Adventures in Misadventure
by G1 ArchAngel
Summary: Trapped in a nightmare made real due to one man's actions, two internet friends fight for survival. Follow them as they gain allies, friends, and more as they traverse the dangerous world of Aincrad.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **So...um...I honestly didn't expect myself to be doing this...I am way out of my element in this fan base, but here we go anyway.** I'm here for a reason, uneducated swine. **Excuse you, Tehg, but I've watched most of SAO, and one of the two arcs I missed is apparently okay to miss according to you.** No one needs to remember calibur...no one... **Then why'd you bring up the name?** Idk... **Some days I wonder about you.** ...Can we just get on with it? **Was waiting on you.**

This is it. The day has finally come. It's been a few years since I not only moved to Japan, but the NerveGear was announced. Since then I've been pinching every bit of money I could so I wouldn't bother Mom and Dad about this. Unfortunately, my current predicament left me hobbling down the street. The big box for the helmet device was hard to move with when you have to rely on a crutch. Damn bomb leaving my right leg useless. Well, the struggle was real, but I managed to get home at a reasonable hour of the afternoon about 12:40 to be exact.

"Mom's not home yet, and Dad must've just left for second shift." I stated, looking around the empty house. "I've got time, so it might be smart to grab something to eat." Making my way to the fridge, I made myself a quick sandwich before going up to my room to set up. I unboxed the expensive device and set it up. It took a bit to calibrate to the level the headgear wanted, but the reward would be worth it. The clock on my desk read 12:57. "Perfect. A minute to use the bathroom then I'm good to go." After taking care of business, I laid back down with it, waiting for the clock to hit 1. Each second felt like an eternity, until the moment finally arrived. "Link start." I said calmly, hiding my excitement. I swiftly made my character, and since I wasn't that artistically creative, I made my character look like me. The very first thing I noticed is that, well, I could walk. I took a few strides before breaking into a sprint, laughing all the way.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked. I turned towards the unfamiliar voice, and recognized the female form that my internet friend had told me they were going to make. She had long brown hair and yellow eyes while wearing black starting armor with red pants.

"Oh, you know, testing out the new leg." I replied, slapping my right hip a few times. "How long were you watching, Akiyo?"

"Hmm hmm, and I'm willing to guess that if I didn't stop you you'd be halfway to the next town by now?" She asks me half sarcastically. "And it's Lux here. Usernames, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Force of habit. To answer your question, it'd be more likely that I would trip on a crack in the road."

"Starting to regret not stopping you. Would have been hilarious to see." She says chuckling to herself.

"Hey!" I shouted indignantly. "Low blow. I haven't walked right in three years, let me enjoy this!"

"Um, I hate to interrupt, but do you guys know where I can get a weapon or something?" A guy asked. He had purple-ish hair with a red headband around his forehead. Oh, people...How do again? Lux steps forward, sighing.

"Down the street to the right for weapons. If it's armor you're looking for back this way to the left." She explains.

"...Did you explore without me?" I asked, making myself sound heartbroken.

"I got bored, ok? Also if you want I can show you the way if your unsure."

"If you haven't gotten your weapon yet, we could always go together?" The man suggested.

"Sure, got to grab my weapon so why not…You in…?" Lux asks looking towards me.

"Oh, um...sure…" I answered.

"Very well!" She exclaims with a small cheer, before bowing a small bit. "Names Lux, at your service." She introduces.

"Names Klein, nice to meet ya." He introduces.

"DeadEnd. Call me D for short." I said after a bit of hesitation. So far so good then. One point for me.

"You know...you're gonna have to get over that shyness one day." Lux says elbowing me in the ribs.

"But today is not that day." I snarked in return.

"Do you two know each other IRL?" Klein asked as we walked.

"Eh...sorta...I guess you could call us...pen pals of sorts." Lux explains to the man. "From there we became friends and the rest is history, so to say."

"Huh, alright then. What were you yelling about back there, anyway?" He asked looking right at me.

"That? A few years back I was caught in the blast of a terrorist's bomb back in the states. They were able to get the shrapnel out safely, but it left my right leg useless. Haven't walked without a crutch or help since then."

"Jeez, I know I told you to get over your shyness, but no need to tell him your life story. You just met him after all." She says sighing at me.

"I was just answering his question. If I were vague it wouldn't have made sense."

"I remember that on the news. The bombing in San Francisco." Klein stated, slapping a fist into his open palm. "Is this it?" He asked, pointing at a stall with about fifty or so other players around it.

"Heh, indeed it is. You should have enough to buy a starting weapon. Can't say the same for armor though." She says to him whilst walking up to the stall.

"You coming, or do you want me to get it for you?" I was asked. "You're shaking."

"Who's shaking? I'm not."

"Get over here coward!" Lux cheers with a sly smile, dragging me up to the stall. "There, now you can't run."

"I hate you. I hate you so much." I muttered, looking at the weapons the NPC had lined up on the wall. Standard fantasy weapons like longswords and spears were hanging there, but one weapon in particular caught my eye. It wasn't very wide, but it had a single edge was probably about two-thirds as tall as I was. "That one." I stated, pointing at the oversized weapon. The menu popped up in front of me, showing the price. "Damn…" I was shy 50 Cor.

"How much do you need?" Lux says out of nowhere, equipping her weapon which was a simple short sword.

"50." I said sadly, knowing where this was going. She always did tend to baby me when she wasn't berating me for how I act in public.

"Hmm...Okay, figured it out. Gotta add you first." She says after fiddling with her menu for a bit, sending me a friend request. I accepted it immediately.

"There."

"Okay, trade, add amount and send request." She says making a menu pop up in front of me. I let out a fairly girly squeal as I accepted it and bought the large sword. It didn't weight as I thought it would. I set the sword into my hands horizontally before raising it above my head.

"I have the power!" I shouted louder than I really should have or thought I could do in this setting.

"Are you even old enough to make that reference?" Klein asked, eyebrow raised.

"I'm sixteen and the internet is a thing. When you can't sportsball, you tend to have a lot of free time."

"That was a reference? Shows what I know…" Lux says shrugging at the two.

"How are we friends when you don't know one of the most famous lines from eighties cartoons?" I asked.

"Klein...help...I really don't know what he's talking about!" She says, half panicking half confused.

"He-Man. He's talking about He-Man." He chuckled. "Speaking of friends, wanna friend each other?" Lux, without thinking nods and sends the man a friend request then turns to me with a questioning look.

"I don't see why not." I said, sending mine as well.

"With that sorted...what now?" Lux asks, mostly to herself. "I mean there's this sword skill system I have been hearing about that we could try and learn. We could try and nab a beta tester to explain it...but then that would put D here in a position he doesn't wanna be in."

"...I think I can deal. It's just one more person…"

"Klein, you in?" She asks the man. He nods in confirmation and lux smirks. "Ok gang, it's time to split up and look for clues!" She says cheering and fist-bumping the air.

"Does that even apply?" I asked.

"Yes. Plus I've always wanted to say it. You stick with me as you're more likely to scare people off with your people skills then find who we're looking for. If you find one send me or D a message. Does that sound good to you, Klein?" She asks him, taking mock charge of the situation.

"Shouldn't be a problem. I'll check around the market area first." He tells us before he runs off

"Lead on, Mom." I chuckled, waving a hand towards the plaza.

"Oh the coward has some bite...meh, got bigger fish to fry right now." She says scanning the area.

"In a few seconds this 'coward' is gonna kick your ass." I growled, reaching back to my weapon.

"That won't do anything to me, you could attack me all day and I'd be no less hurt than we started." She says without even turning to look at me.

"You'll still feel it, even if your health doesn't go down." I continued. Some days I really do get tired of this. "Hey, what's up with that guy? Wait...Is that Klein?" I said, squinting my eyes to try and see a bit better.

"So it is...Ah, he just sent me a message. Seems he met a guy who was willing to teach him a few things. Says to meet him and his new friend in the plains outside." She says before typing away at a menu.

"Neat."

"You wanna lead for once or do I have to drag you there like usual?"

"Let me find the map first." I muttered, looking for the exit of this starter town on the display. With a general sense of where to go, I wordlessly took charge. "Hey Klein...Klein's new friend." I greeted when we finally got to the duo. "See? I can social." I said, turning over my shoulder to Lux.

"Hm? You say something? Too busy staring at the sights." She responds with, smirking a tiny bit.

"What, at Klein's new friend? I didn't think I'd be replaced so easily." I said, hands on my heart while looking at the new guy. He had a really angular face, almost like he was trying to look a lot older than he was, and a mess of black hair. His standard armor was navy blue.

"So, nice to meet you. Name's Lux, this fool here is...D...something." She says to Klein's new friend with an impromptu bow, ignoring my antics.

"Uh, Kirito...A pleasure." He says in return with a short nod of acknowledgement. "So you all have no idea how to use swords skills, correct?" He asks us all. Klein nods his head with a goofy grin, almost as if he was proud of that answer.

"I know the theory from reading the forums, but seeing and doing are two different things." Lux says actually being serious for once.

"I'm basically in the dark. Hell, I was lucky enough to get one of these things." I commented, tapping my head.

"I'll try and explain it...as simply as possible then. Basically you want to try and feel out the attack, if you get the motion right the system will kick in and guide you through the rest." He says to us, before crouching down to pick up a pebble and gets into a stance with it. After a few short moments the pebble starts to glow a pale blue. He then proceeds to throw it at a boar, pissing it off. "Now you try."

"Who goes first?" I asked, immediately regretting it as the two others had a finger on their nose. "God dammit." I cursed in English. The boar was gaining ground and I did the only thing that came to mind. I hefted my sword above my head, and then I brought it down. The only real evidence of my swing was the red trail that was left in its wake, as well as the vertical light red line running through the pig. "Be at rest, Sir Oinkums." I said as it shattered. A display popped up showing me the Cor and loot that I got.

"Child!" Lux shouts out laughing out loud. "Ok, ok, me next. I'll show you how to properly kill a boar!" She boasts, stepping forward, drawing her blade. She picks up a Pebble and throws it at a boar, getting its attention. The boar's head snaps round and looks at Lux with the intent to kill before starting its charge. "Now watch as I show you gre- argh!" Lux starts, but gets interrupted by the boar ramming into her gut.

"That's called karma." I commented and the two men with me nodded in agreement. She chooses to ignore me and grabs the pig by its tusks, throwing it towards us three.

"Your turn Klein." She says, making it run towards him. He gets his weapon, a scimitar, out and gets into a ready motion, he then charges forward before striking down at the boar, killing it. "Lucky shot…" Lux comments.

"Hey, I killed it! My first mob!" Klein cheers extremely happy raising his fists and weapon into the air. His cheering was soon brought to an end by Kirito.

"That was only a low tier enemy. They're basically as powerful as slimes." He says, making Klein slump down onto the ground.

"But they seemed pretty hard for a low tier mob."

"Don't judge a boar by its tusks?" Lux says to the man.

"Did you really just say that?" Klein asks while face-palming.

"She can be like that." I explained.

"I see my humor is lost on you...Oh well. I have stuff to farm." Lux says starting to walk off towards a group of boars.

"Is she always like that?" Kirito asks me.

"When it comes to RPGs? Yes. Or do you mean her general disposition?"

"Both. I think we best get moving before we get left behind." He says turning towards where Lux went and starts walking over.

"She didn't even manage to use a sword skill, did she?" I asked Klein as the two left.

"I don't think that's going to stop her." He answers with a short laugh before following the other two.

"No, but it might just kill her." I say to no one, entering the fray. We ground for hours, killing hundreds of the mobs each, getting to level 2 and making progress to level 3. "I'm so tired…Why is this so tiring…?"

"You don't get tired physically, but it does make you tired mentally, so if you ignore it you should be fine...probably." Kirito explains while sheathing his sword.

"Nerd..." Klein and I groaned, both somehow making the impression of Dragon Ball Z abridged's Piccolo.

"Really?" Lux asked, face in her hand.

"So you get that one. Maybe you aren't a lost cause." Klein joked, rolling over on the ground.

"This lost cause might end up accidentally stabbing you…" Lux grumbles to herself. "Still, this game is better than the beta testers made it out to be, at least so far."

"Maybe. I never paid attention to that because I wanted to keep things a surprise." I added, lifting myself off the ground with my blade.

"Hey Kirito, mind if I add ya? Would be good having friends in a game like this." Lux asks him, getting a bit too close to him for comfort.

"You really are getting replaced." Klein quipped.

"I know…" I said, head hung low.

"Shush you two, I'm only making friends and you!" She says pointing to me. "Stop pretending to be sad...You're only pretending right?"

"Partly. You ARE rubbing all up against him, and he's looking as awkward as me." I pointed out. Lux steps away from him before sending him a friend request.

"Better?" She asks me with a deadpan look.

"I don't think I'm the one you should ask." I laughed. "I think he might be broken."

"I...I'm fine." Kirito comments before reluctantly taping the accept button. "How do you cope with her?"

"Who says I do?"

"Hey! I take offence to that!" The in question shouts, pouting at us two.

"Hey, what time is it?" Klein asked, changing the topic of conversation. "I have a pizza coming at six-thirty."

"Hate to break it to you, but it's six thirty on the dot. Totally not six twenty." Lux says to the man.

"I'm not alone in this torment anymore!" I cheered. "Now go get that pizza!"

"Uh total noob question, but where's the logout button?" Klein asks, a small bit of embarrassment evident on his face.

"It should be in the setting...unless I'm wrong about that?" Lux questions while navigating through her menu. "Anti-social duo, you two got any idea?"

"I'm gonna hit you." I said, standing up. "But no. How many times am I going to have to say I don't get this game before you understand?"

"It should be in the settings, but the space where it should be is blank." Kirito answers.

"I see, I see, and common sense helps for a reason, D." Lux says.

"Do any of you feel...tingly?" Klein asks out of nowhere.

"I feel hungry, but that's about it, thanks to you." I replied before immediately eating my words when the tingles came. "Never mind." My vision was then enveloped in a light blue light and when it faded we were back in the plaza we spawned in. Weirdly enough, it seemed like everyone ever was also here.

"Hey...do you guys know what that flashing red thing in the sky is?" Klein asks no one in particular.

"I believe the locals call it a hexagon...lemme get back to you on that." Lux comments, reviving an annoyed look from Klein. "Hey, you asked."

"Oh look, the sky is bleeding. I thought that only happened back in the States." I commented. From that blood a figure forms in a red robe with a hood completely hiding their facial features.

"Greetings everyone, and welcome to Sword Art Online!" The figure greets. "I'm sure some of you have noticed that the log out button is missing. This is not a flaw, this is a feature of the game. I repeat, it is a feature of the game."

"Yay." Lux quietly cheers. I elbowed her before she could get any louder.

"Shh...The blood man is talking…" I whispered.

"I bet you're also wondering who I am. Well, I am Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online. I should further add that if you die in the game you die in real life. The only way to escape is to clear all one hundred floors of Aincrad and beat the game."

"Wait, so he wants us to beat an MMO?" Lux and Klein ask in unison.

"Question!" One guy from the crowd shouts out to the blood figure, now known as Kayaba. "How are we supposed to beat an MMO?"

"You don't." Lux grumbles.

"Like I said, beat all one hundred floor and you win. Does that answer your question?" Kayaba answers. "Now that you know this, I have one last thing to mention. In your inventory is an item. I would suggest using it." He said before disappearing.

"Whole load of nope, and delete." Lux says getting rid of this item. I looked, curious, and equipped the item. In my hand was a small hand mirror, showing my dirty blonde hair, light blue eyes, white skin and beard. The item clearly activated, just like everyone else's, but…

"Was something supposed to happen?" I asked. Looking around, other players' avatars had changed, but my reflection wasn't different.

"I assume that your avatar is supposed to be replaced with your IRL looks. Can't say for sure as I didn't use it." Lux says while in deep thought.

"You're plotting…" I commented before turning to my right. "You don't look much different, Klein."

"Neither do you...you look the exact same." He responds with.

"Kirito however...Huh. You turned out to be a kid, at least by looks." Lux comments while walking over and leaning in to get a closer look. Kirito's face had become much rounder and his mop of black hair didn't reach to the base of his neck. Klein, on the other hand, had his hair held up by his bandana and was red instead of that weird color he picked.

"Follow me." Kirito says seriously, cutting of the topic of conversation and then starts making his way out of the crowd.

"This guy doesn't like to hang around much...Let's get moving, I guess."

"Is anyone else getting tired of being led around by the nose by this guy, or is it just me?" I asked, walking forward anyways.

"Stop your whining. At least one of us has a plan of action so to say. Uh...where did he go? Where's Klein?"

"If they need us, Klein is on both our friend lists. We should leave though, before the riot breaks out." I stated.

"Very true. Maybe we should make our way to another town? The hunting grounds around here will probably be full very soon, so not useful." Lux suggests while sending over a trade containing map data. "I'm guessing you didn't buy the local map?"

"When did I have the time or money?" I countered, accepting the trade.

"Fair enough. So onwards to...the nearest town then?" I followed Lux there, exiting the town into the field from before and following the path on the right. Obviously we took on anything that came our way, but that ended up with me losing HP from a wolf in a bush that we missed. We continue following the path, eventually coming up to a town.

"That was a struggle." I said, enjoying the fact that we were in the safe zone of Tolbana.

"It was only a struggle because you got hit by that wolf. We would've been fine otherwise."

"You're the one saying she'd be keeping her eye out for stuff like that. I'm just glad [Cleave] does as much damage as it does."

"At least my skill hit more than yours did. Were you even aiming?"

"I was aiming, but my weapon is naturally slower than yours. For now."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say. Anyway let's go find an inn, sleep is needed."

"Yeah, I could use the sleep right about now." I agreed. We head of to search for an inn, quickly coming across one, we enter and quickly buy two rooms and head up to them for the night.

 **Well, that's that. Not quite sure where I'll go with this, if I even continue it. That's all up in the air.** I'm here for a reason. Why write this and stop, wouldn't make sense, so high ho silver? **Because this is an experiment at best?** Shush you. Anyway I'm done so bye for now. **See ya, maybe. Depends.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Well, I made a second one, and a bit sooner than I thought I would too.** Well, when you wanna write you just can't stop it. **Wish it was like that for my other story, but now isn't the time to lament over that.** Shush. Indeed it's not. Let's just get on with the show. **Let's. Also, disclaimer: We did not realize at the time of writing that there's already a Lux in canon, but we're not changing it.**

I woke up the following morning and cracked my now virtual back while stretching. The clock on the wall said that it was seven twenty-two in the morning. I looked out the window and say that the sun was still rising.

"Knowing Lux, she won't even be up yet. I could knock on her door, but I don't think I want to do that to myself...What can I do then…?" Almost absently, I scrolled through the menu for anything that isn't combat related. What caught my eye was [Cooking]. Who doesn't like cooking? ( **Tehg, don't answer that.** ) (shush you). I could put some time into that. Equipping my armor, seeing as it was the only clothing I had, I made my way downstairs and looked around for someone. "Where is the kitchen, if I can even use it?"

"It's down that hallway and to the left." The NPC innkeep said from behind me. "Though I will have to ask that you go and get your own ingredients."

"That's fair." I commented. "Is anything open yet?"

"The bakery should be in a few minutes." She replied. Okay, cool. I've got boar meat from our trip here and I'm pretty sure that I snagged some veggies on the way here in the woods. The sandwich recipe is meat, lettuce, tomato and bread from what the menu said. Too bad that's one of only three recipes that I start with. The NPC went back to her duties and I opened up the menu again.

"Okay, I've got three lettuce, five tomatoes, and more boar than I could probably ever use. That means I'll only be able to make three sandwiches...Better than nothing, I guess." I said out loud to myself before leaving leaving the inn. The town was quiet, with the only things making noise were the few early morning vendors setting up shop. The stalls were clearly marked by a symbol of what they sold. I found the bread one and waited until the NPC was ready, where I bought three loaves of some higher quality bread. That black bread didn't look too appetizing, no matter how cheap it was. From there, I had more than enough to grab some potions, which I didn't actually get because of the sword I bought. Maybe getting a type of greatsword wasn't the smartest move for starting the game. I made my choice though, and that's what I'll stick with. Cooking was...disappointing. All I had to was put all the ingredients on a cutting board and cutting some of them with a knife. Sandwich one...let's just say I had to explain why I was swinging a sword around the inn. The second sandwich was a success, and since I was hungry I tried it. It was palatable, but the meat really could've used some seasoning to take away the gamey taste. I didn't think the innkeep would mind me using a bit of salt and pepper, so I rubbed it into the meat before crafting. Another success, but I stuck it in my inventory to have it for later. My cooking went up substantially, but I didn't unlock anything new.

"This is the third time this week!" The voice of the innkeeper shouted. Curious about the possible event, I made my way to the lobby.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I just received a letter informing me that the caravan that brings the supplies to run the in has been attacked by monsters."

"My friend and I can help you out." I suggested. "Monsters shouldn't be a problem." As soon as the words left my mouth, a display opened in front of me that read [Accept "Caravan Escort"?]. I hit the accept button without a thought.

"Thank you." The innkeeper said, giving me a deep bow before going off to do...innkeeper things?

"This means I'm going to have to wake up Lux...Shit…" I'm glad that I learned to keep my cursing to English, which meant that people only gave me weird looks as I skulked around the lobby. "Hey Lux?" I asked, rapping my knuckles on the door to her room. "Are you up?"

"What do you want…?" Lux groaned.

"I may or may not have found an NPC quest for us to do."

"...Any special rewards?"

"I didn't look. I felt like it was repaying her for letting me use the inn's kitchen."

"You're an idiot."

"At least I don't plan on lazing about all day." I chuckled.

"Still an idiot. So, what kind of quest is it?"

"It's called [Caravan Escort]. From what the NPC said, monsters keep attacking the trade caravan on its way here."

"An...escort quest? You woke me up...for an escort quest?"

"It's a quest, right? What's the issue?" I asked, genuinely confused on her issue about it.

"You obviously haven't played many games. Escort quests are the absolute most time consuming and tedious thing to man." Lux explained.

"How bad could it be?" I asked. "This was a mistake!" I yell, trying desperately to keep up with the wagons that we're moving faster than any player should be able to at this point in the game.

"I told you so!" Lux shouted to me, whilst hanging from one of the wagons. The smirk on her face was erased once the wagon hit a bump in the road and she lost her grip. "Not. One. Word."

"Just get back to running!" I called out. Eventually we caught up, only to see that the attack was happening. A group of [Dire Wolves] and [Frenzy Boars] were trying to either eat the NPCs or knock over the wagons.

"Remind me why you accepted this again?" Lux asks me with irritation.

"It was a quest...and it was put in front of me..."

"Me and you are gonna have a long talk once this is over with." Lux tells me before charging off blindly into the group.

"Yes, yes we are." I agreed, drawing my sword and cutting into the first thing that I got close to.

"Watch out! Wolf incoming!" Lux shouts as she flings one in my direction before slicing into a boar. "I fucking hate escort quests!" She screams, taking her fury out on the closest mobs to her.

"I see it!" I replied while also noticing two more sneaking up behind me. They lunged around the same time Lux sent the third at me, so I used [Cyclone] to knock them all way. "I'm gonna have to get used to that one." I groaned, feeling a little dizzy.

"And that's the last of em!" Lux cheers, using her [Slant] to finish of the last mob. "Please be it and say we don't have to run…"

"Thanks for the help." The driver of the lead carriage said. "We should be fine from here." He added, taking off.

"Oh thank God…" Lux said, flopping onto the ground.

"Hey, think about it this way, we got [Sprint] leveled up." I commented, looking at the

"Don't care. From now on, check the fine print of the quests before you accept them…ok?" Lux tells me, annoyed.

"Look, we got some more veggies and bread. I can make us some sandwiches later."

"I'll just stick to black break. Tastes fine to me…" Lux comments, pulling a loaf out and nomming on it.

"More sandwich for me then." I said, getting the one from my inventory and snacked on it."

"Oh hey, a message from Klein!" Lux cheers while said message.

"Why can't I ever get a message from anyone?"

"Because you're the anti-social one. I'll tag on a message at the bottom that your feeling lonely."

"Hey! Not lonely, just excluded."

"Anyway, he's asking how things are. Oh, he's also asking if we know where Kirito is. He isn't responding to messages apparently."

"Tell him you'll work your feminine charms for a response." I teased.

"How are we friends again?" Lux asks whilst typing out some messages. While she did that I checked and saw that I miraculously managed to take no damage.

"...Birds of a feather?" I suggested.

"Uh, sure...Got a message from Kirito. No response from Klein, though."

"What'd your boy toy say?" Look, if the opportunity is there, I'm gonna milk it for what it's worth.

"He's busy getting a sword. If we want the details on it he says to contact this player called Argo." Lux explains. "Ring any bells?"

"Why do people ask me about this game? Seriously. Why?" I exclaimed. "Also, that sounds dirty. Tell him that sounds dirty."

"We're heading back to town. Got a reply from this Argo person...Very quickly I might add." Lux tells me a bit shaken. "Also, no I won't tell him that."

"Huh. I wanted to go back to town anyway. See if I couldn't scout out some better armor."

"Keep an eye out for something for me? I'll handle this meeting with this Argo person." Lux asks me.

"What're you looking for?"

"Anything, as long as it has better stats."

"So literally anything. Okay then." Hehehe...Oh, revenge, I love you. This is what you get for giving me a hard time. We took our time getting back, but that's because we were tired. We put so many points into [Sprint] that we just didn't want to move very fast. As we arrive in town, Lux darts off. Most likely to meet with this Argo. Perfect. Since I saw the stalls earlier this morning, I had no trouble finding my way around. They did have a better short sword for Lux, an iron one to replace her bronze, and honestly it wasn't that expensive. Turns out my luck runs true though, and they didn't even have an iron version of my sword. That's alright though, there's other towns, and I need to get my revenge on. It was a fairly simple plan: Go to the armorer, get the most feminine and possibly revealing armor that had better stats, and be prepare to put more points into [Sprint]. For myself, I managed to find some reinforced black leather pants, an iron chestplate for my green shirt, metal plated brown boots and a black scarf that added to [Agility] somehow. Lux will be getting a brown reinforced leather jacket, red cloth camisole top with a V-neck, brown short pleated skirt with black stockings and brown ankle boots.

The map showed that Lux was at a cafe, which is probably the best place to spring this on her, because maybe it'll give me time to either run or get her to simmer down. When I got there, she was talking to someone in a cloak and the only discernible features about the person was the whisker marks on their cheeks. From the empty cups on the table, I could tell that things were probably going smoothly.

"God damn rip off...Oh hey D." Or not so smoothly, apparently.

"Hey. Got you some stuff. This must be Argo, right?" I asked, turning to the other person at the table.

"Nyahaha… five hundred Cor." The whiskered person answered.

"For answering if that's your name? Fuck off." I said, not at all amused.

"I thought I was good at this sorta thing...All my Cor...gone…" Lux whimpers out.

"You didn't…"

"She did." The person that could only be Argo answered.

"Did you at least get anything good for it?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Her name is Argo, and the location of the quest Kirito is doing."

"And you took from us…?"

"Two hundred thousand." Argo answers with a cheshire like grin.

"Couldn't you just have asked Kirito where to start the quest instead of dropping that much?" I asked my companion. "Any option would've been a better option at that point."

"Kii-bou is an associate of mine. I may have paid him to send people like you my way." Argo says stepping in to answers.

"That explains the answer and reluctance to explain things. Lux, you're done handling money. With things like this, consult me first from now on. Holy shit…Did you even try to bargain. Did she try to bargain, at least?" I asked the two.

"Tried and failed" They both say at the same time.

"Is there just...ANY way...to get at least some of our money back?" I pleaded. "I need something to mitigate what I'm about to do."

"Got any info that's worth anything?"

"Hmm...the only thing I can think of is the details of the quest we got from the innkeep."

"[Caravan escort], I know about it. Say, I'll cut you a deal. Give me any info you find from now on and sure I can give you some back."

"Before we agree, how much are we talking?" I asked, trying to make sure I don't get screwed.

"Two thousand sounds reasonable." Argo answers.

"Hmm...Three and we'll call it good." It's not that much more than the ten percent she's trying to pass off as fair, but I'm not taking the risk of nothing at all.

"Two and a half or no deal." argo says standing up.

"Fine, but I want a small cut on whatever you make off our info. That's gonna be a pain to get our hands on anyway this early with all the Beta's running around."

"Depends on the info. I might give you some, I might not." Argo says sending over the money before she starts to walk off. "Well, nice meeting ya."

"I think I did better than you, huh Lux." I commented. "Now for the gear I got you."

"At least there's something to look forward to I guess." Lux says. Oh, how wrong you are. I traded her the stuff and decided to equip mine at the same time after moving to a more...secluded spot.

"D you bastard! What the hell is with this armor!?" Lux snarls from the other side of my inn room door. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Hey, you said anything better, and that was the best they had! Don't be mad at me, blame Kayaba!" I replied.

"So I'll kill him after slowly killing you!"

"If you kill me, you'll actually kill me!"

"Fine, you win this time. I will kill you next time though." Lux says, sighing before walking away.

"If there is a next time, spoil sport." I mutter, telling that she was gone. I left the safety of my room and saw that she was sitting on a couch fuming. "If I may, though, it does look good on you."

"If I may, my sword might make a great addition to your gut...Thanks though, I guess."

"No problem. So, what's up with this quest you dropped one hundred ninety nine thousand, five hundred Cor on?"

"Something about killing a plant creature for a drop for this woman in a village...I have the full details in a message she sent me."

"Okay. Sounds interesting enough. Where is it?"

"Horunka."

"That's...isn't that on the other side of the floor."

"Yup. That means we get to grind on the way and re-earn what we lost!" Lux cheers earning a bit of her vigor back.

"You mean what you lost." I said. "By the by, how exactly did you get that much. It was almost double what we each had at the end of yesterday."

"So I may have gone to farm some more after we got our rooms until like five or six in the morning."

"Seriously? Which means I'm going to have to catch up. Sonnuva…"

"I mean I'm only level five, won't take you that long." Lux half boasts.

"At the pace you're going to make us go to get there? I'm not so sure."

"If you grind in the dungeon you will, but that can wait till after we're done with this quest that cost us all of my money."

"Did you go into the dungeon without me, Lux?"

"You were asleep. I did knock to see if you wanted to come."

"At what, three in the morning?"

"No, no...four."

"...You are, by far, the most confusing existence in my life, and I'm currently trapped in a game where my hard earned money will kill me."

"How will it?" Lux asks, tilting her head quizzically.

"The NerveGear."

"How is being trapped in here a bad thing?"

"Do you...not get the dangers to our actual lives? Or the fact that we're being kept from our family and friends, who are probably even more worried than we are about if we live or die?"

"Oh I get all that. But why should being here be bad when it's so much fun?" Lux says, smiling brightly as she says that.

"...Can we just get going…?" I sigh. Clearly she doesn't care, though I will admit, this place does have one upside. Still doesn't change the fact that death is around every corner both figuratively, and literally.

"Fine, fine." Lux says shrugging and starts running off in the direction of Horunka.

"I really do wonder how we're friends." I say, giving chase. It took us most of the day to get there, between the actual distance and Lux wanting to face off with anything that moved and didn't look human. I did get closer to her level though, with her getting to seven and me six. "So much for us doing that quest today." I say, looking up at the darkening sky. "Might not be the best idea to do it in the dark if we have to find a specific monster out of a group."

"I know. That was the plan. Just had to make sure you could keep up." Lux chuckled, making her way to the town's inn.

"Sure you did." I sighed, going through the door and renting my own room. The bed was...a thing. It wasn't as good as the one in Tolbana, but it would do. A rapid series of knocks woke me up, and I turned to the window to see that the sun hasn't even begun to rise. "If this is Lux, I don't give a damn if she thinks I deserve this, we're gonna have issues." Lo and behold, I opened the door to my brown haired friend.

"Hey D, let's make tracks. We have a lot of stuff to do today...maybe two days."

"The sun...is not even up...What the hell…"

"Get used to it. Besides, I haven't been to sleep yet so quit complaining."

"You have a problem." I said "Also, I also have a problem."

"Firstly, I'm fine. Secondly, don't care."

"So you're completely fine with me walking around naked with you? Okay."

"I mean...You'd die a lot faster that way, but if that's your choice...Who am I to...Who am I kidding, put some pants on now you creep." Lux says with a grossed out face.

"You're the one that woke me up before I had time to get dressed." Yes, Sojiro, hide your embarrassment behind snappy comebacks. That'll save you. Hopefully.

"You're the one that slept naked."

"Yeah, because I haven't somewhere that sells shorts, and I can't sleep in pants."

"Get over it. Anyway, get your armour on and let's get going, lazy ass." Lux says before making her way downstairs. Since she was gone, and no longer hiding me from the world, I closed my door and did as she "asked", going to find her once I was done. "You're late...Don't you know not to keep a lady waitin'?"

"Lady? I don't see a lady anywhere near here." I replied, looking around with a hand on my forehead.

"Wanna die punk!?" She asks whilst wrapping her hands around my neck and throttling me.

"Do you really think you should treat your friend like that?" Klein asked, crossing his arms and chuckling. "What are you two doing here?"

"Trying to breath…" I wheeze, grabbing at her hands. Lux lets go and turns to face the man.

"Klein!" Lux cheers charging into the man, bringing him into a hug.

"Do you just...want me to go away? Because I can do that?" I asked as the man blushed.

"Um...Hey, Lux…" Klein said awkwardly.

"Hm? Whats up?" Lux asks looking up at Klein and tilting her head quizzically.

"Now kiss." I whispered after taking a few steps back.

"Nothing much. My friends wanted to do a few quests around here, but none of the drops are anything I could really use." He answered, looking down to match her gaze. Finally letting go, Lux thinks for a minute.

"True. The drops from this floor aren't anything to write home about. Though the dungeon mats aren't half bad." She says half mindedly. "You okay D? Not feeling left out are ya?" She asks with a teasing smirk.

"More like a third wheel than left out at this rate." I teased back. "Seriously, if you clung to him any longer, I'd have thought you two were dating outside this place."

"Quiet nooblet...Can't I greet a friend without being hounded?"

"I don't understand what's going on anymore." Klein sighed. "Do you guys want help with that? I've...really got nothing better to do."

"I'm fine with it. Could use the support. D?"

"Fine with me. I've got a slow weapon, so having someone else with speed on their side will be helpful."

"Someone help!" A young voice calls out as small girl with brown hair done up in twintails. "There's a horde of monsters outside! I saw some players trapped!"

"Say no more! We shall help!" Lux says, grabbing mine and Klein's hand and without even asking where the monster are exactly, drags us outside of town in search of these players.

"We can walk!" Klein shouted, constantly looking back at the two trenches his feet were making.

"He has a point. We could get there fast if we were on our feet." I added.

"...Fine...fine." Lux says before dashing off away from us group.

"How does she get all this energy?" Klein asks.

"I wish I knew, Klein, I wish I knew. She wasn't like this when we talked on voice chat."

"Does she…*huff*...Does she know where she's going…?" The girl from before asked. She was bent over, gasping for air.

"Arms up over your head. Helps you breathe better than bending over." I explained to her. She does, and stops panting.

"T-Thank you. They should be that way!" She said, pointing at a spot off to the right of the trial Lux ran down.

"...lp" I could hear Lux shouting, but she was too far to make out exactly what she was shouting.

"Uh...is she alright?" Klein asks unsure.

"Get ready for combat! These guys are serious." lux shouts whilst being chased by a horde of boars.

"Mortal Kombat!" I shouted, drawing my sword. "To save Klein's girlfriend!" I roared, charging onward.

"Hey, she say something about that?" Klein asks as we run towards the group.

"No, but I know she heard me, and I'm getting payback for all the shit she's been putting me through in this game. Sorry about using you like that."

"If the mobs don't kill you, I will!" Lux screams, making a beeline for me.

"See. It's working." I said.

"Uh...mister, should you be doing that? S-She can kill you." The girl said.

"I'm sure. Got away with it the last time teasing her about Kirito. What is name, anyway?" I ask with a fake Russian accent.

"S-Silica…"

"Nice to meet you. I'm D and this is Klein. Klein, no looking, you're spoken for." I commented.

"I WILL END YOU!" Lux roared, looking more like the machines in a slaughterhouse than a woman with a sword.

"This is so worth it!" I laughed, joining the fray.

"Maybe you should quit while you're ahead...and while I have a shot at that?" Klein says.

"You have your priorities straight, and I can respect that." I reply. "I don't think my teasing will hurt that though." My sword sank into the pig like a warm knife in butter. Speaking of knives, Silica's cut one's side right open after she got over whatever nervousness kept her in place a second ago.

"Dunno whats worse, the pigs, or the fact that I'm finding it hard to try not killing you." Lux says after getting knocked into my back.

"It's because you actually love me, as much as you won't admit it." I say, cutting down another one before moving towards Silica, who was slowly being surrounded.

"Who brought the shrimp?" Lux asks as she's making her way over to the surrounded girl.

"She came to give us directions to the others players. Did you find them?" Klein asked. Lux looks over and slowly shakes her head. "Dammit...We were too late…" It didn't take us long to dispatch the mobs that surrounded the girl that was obviously a child.

"Kill pigs, talk later." Lux says whilst killing a boar without mercy.

"Understood." We all said. It took an hour to carve through the horde, and carve I did. So much boar meat. So much.

"Hey, Silica?" I asked. "What level are you?"

"L-level three...I was level two before I met you guys." She replies nervously.

"Were you out her alone, or with...um…?" Oh, would you look at that. Lux is the one who can't talk to people now.

"N-No, I was on my own. I got lost trying to get back to the [Town of Beginnings]."

"H-how do you...nevermind. I can't leave you on your own all the way out here. Wanna come with us? Excluding Klein, as he has his own group...unless?" Lux says to Silica before turning to face the young man.

"My party's full, and I don't think splitting us up into different parties is a good idea yet. I can still come with you guys for a while. They'll be gone for the day." He answered. "Maybe we can get some drinks. First round's on me." He thought he was being sneaky, but I saw the way he mostly said that to Lux. I can read people, Klein. I know your game, and I approve.

"I guess that works...Silica you coming with?"

"Uh...sure." Silica says timidly. Lux cheers at this and wraps an arm around her and starts walking towards town.

"Hey D, wanna be my wingman?" klein asks/pleads.

"Is that not what I've been doing? If you say something enough, eventually it becomes the truth. Basically, I'm slowly planting the idea into her head, getting her to think about it, then maybe…" As I say this a message very quickly appears from lux.

[That only works on idiots- Lux] Time to crack my knuckles and get to work.

[You saying you're not?-D]

"Please don't do this." Klein begged. Too late, bud.

[What do you want written on your tombstone? -lux]

[A shitty pun or a dad joke. Preferably a combo of the two, so you suffer every time you come and visit. And I know you will.-D]

[You're lucky I'm out of range or I'd be testing my new throwing weapons skill out on your chest cavity. -Lux 500 for a response -Argo.] I just shook my head at the fact that my friend was using an informant as a middle man and kept walking.

"Ah, my favorite place...Tavern." Klein sighs as we arrive at the entrance to the place.

"Yup, nothing like the smell of shitty beer and loud noises after a long day of fucking things up." I said, changing my swear to English for the innocent set of ears among us.

"I-I can understand you…" Silica whispered.

"Oh no...My out…" I whimpered. Wait...this can be a good thing…

"Well, I did say first round's on me. Three beers and a milk, please." Klein asked. Before she left, Lux stopped her.

"Four beers, no milk." Lux said.

"Uh...Miss Lux, I'm underage." Silica comments.

"Oh yeah...Best make it five beers!"

"Settle down, Thor. We really don't want to get a kid drunk." Klein jokes.

"Fair enough. Three beers and one milk then…" Lux says whilst sulking. The waitress left and swiftly came back with our drinks and Klein handed her the money. "So, Klein, how are you and your group doing?" Lux asks, whilst taking a swig of her mug. I followed suit and practically spit mine out.

"Before I answer that, are you okay?" He asked me.

"Yeah, just remembering why I stick to wine and not this glorified wheat juice." I groaned.

"What, can't handle your ale?" Lux commented with a smirk.

"The taste of it, yes. I've got no problem with the alcohol bit. Anyway, back to the question at hand."

"We're doing pretty good. With six of us, things are going smoothly and we're getting levels pretty quick." Klein explained.

"I see, thats nice. You thinking of forming a guild with them if you can?" Lux asks him, curious.

"That's the plan, but there's no mention of it here on this floor as far as I can tell." He replied.

"W-What about you?" Silica asked, looking at the other female at the table.

"Dunno. What I do know, however, from actually researching what the beta testers found out, is that you can make a guild on the third floor. There's a quest you have to do, or so the fourms say. If I'm gonna make one, join one or not join one is yet to be seen." Lux says in an almost robotic voice.

"How long have you been rehearsing that one?" I asked.

"Since we saw Klein this morning...How 'bout you Silica?" Klein pouted at her answer, and I couldn't tell if it was him messing around or he was actually upset. "However if a friend asks me to join them, I guess I couldn't turn them down." Lux adds, giving Klein a knowing look.

"I'll have to keep that in mind!" He laughed.

"I-I don't know...I mean it's a big decision. I'd have to think on it really hard." Silica says honestly, albeit reluctantly.

"That's fair." I said. "I think I'm in the same boat. It's pretty early for me to be thinking on that, given the whole situation we've gotten ourselves in."

"You sure you wouldn't just do the same thing I would?" Lux asks.

"I AM my own person." I huffed. "I'm completely capable of doing things on my own. You just won't let me."

"Well if I don't keep an eye on you, who will?" She says with a...motherly look?

"Are you sure I'M not the third wheel here?" Klein joked.

"I deserved that." I say, face heating just a touch.

"Look." Lux says getting serious. "It was my idea that got you dragged in here, so it's my responsibility...Uh, sorry for dampening the mood."

"No, it's not completely your fault. I've been planning on getting this thing since the NerveGear was announced. I'd just appreciate it if, you know, you stopped treating me the way you have, and more like when we'd talk on the outside...Fuck, I already sound like one of those guys that's been in prison for a few years."

"How would you even know that?" Lux commented before sighing. "Fine, fine... Anyway, here Silica, you're young so you need to drink." Lux adds, whilst trying to get Silica to have some off her drink.

"Stop that." Klein states. "Or I'll keep you to milk too."

"But she...Ugh, fine, spoil my fun."

"...Can I have another?" Silica asked, holding her glass up to Klein. You could just see his heart melt as she asked.

"Waitress! Another milk for the young lady!" He shouted, holding the empty glass up. It didn't take long for the drink to be refilled and consumed a few times, and Klein was being played like a fiddle the whole time.

"You are a devious little girl, you know that." I say, looking Silica right in the eye. "I like that."

"No D, she's...Uh...however old she is." Lux says, getting between us with fake anger.

"T-That's not! I wasn't! Ugh…" I slammed my head onto the table after my failure to make a solid explanation. "I wasn't hitting on her…" My voice was muffled, but I feel like my point was made. The girls could be heard giggling, at what I couldn't tell but it started getting farther away, towards where Klein was sitting.

"U-um, D, it seems Klein and Lux have gone out somewhere. Wanna follow them?" Silica asks in monotone.

"How drunk did they look?" I asked, not bothering to lift my head.

"Drunkenness is a status effect that does not affect your decision making skills." She replies with, rattling off something as if she was told it by Lux.

"That is a textbook Lux statement. What are you two really doing?" I asked, lifting my head and leveling a glare her way.

"We were trying to pull a prank on you…" She admits shyly.

"Of course you were. Now, what was this prank supposed to be?"

"Tripping you up, knocking you out then seeing if there was some sort of pen in this place to write on your face." She admits with a small giggle.

"*Sigh*...Of course… Well, if that's the case, you're leading me around it so I can just go to bed. I think I've had enough of today. And if you try to lead me into this, know that there will be hell to pay, and you can learn some nasty things in America." It's not...public knowledge, but she doesn't need to know that.

"Eep! I wasn't going to trick you! F-follow me…" Silica says timidly.

"Alright." I say, getting up from my chair. As she said, the trick was avoided and I swiftly made for my room, ready to just lay in my room. I saw a bath, so maybe I'll use that for a bit to unwind. My rest of my day was uninterrupted and fell asleep reading a book I had managed to pick up from...somewhere. Honestly, I have no clue. It was in my inventory, and it looked like the guide book I got for a game on a handheld a while , sleep ended up taking me swiftly and effectively. I was woken up by rapid knocking on the door. It wasn't very loud, but was definitely enough to be meant to wake someone, i.e. me.

"Sojiro? You awake?" Lux asks quietly.

"You know, asking if someone is awake that quietly isn't gonna get you an answer from most." I chuckle. "But if you're using my name, it must be serious." I struggled out of bed, equipped some pants, and opened the door. "Come on. Pen on the table." I said, being a touch bit paranoid. There was no witty remark or comeback as she did as I asked before sitting down on the bed. It was odd, seeing her in a dark red nightgown that reached her knees.

"H-hey…" She says awkwardly.

"Akiyo, are you okay?" I asked. She's never like this, as far as I'm aware. "You seem...upset about something."

"I...I couldn't save them, Sojiro. I saw them die in front of me. I could have saved them, but no…" She says, tears starting fall as her words start to become incoherent. I moved towards her and wrapped her in a hug, holding her head against my shoulder.

"Shh...Just let it out...It's okay...I'm here for you." I whisper softly.

"So-Sojiro...do...do you think they actually died? That what Kayaba said is true?"

"If that news feed was to be believed...I'm sorry, but I don't think lying to you would help anyone."

"...You're right...But it's still tough to face."

"Yeah, that's how death is, but you don't have to face it alone. At least, not tonight."

"Do you say that to all the ladies that walk by?" She says with a small chuckle.

"If I was normally that smooth, I'd have a girlfriend already. This is a one time thing at best." I laugh along. "But serious. Stay here. Please. Trust me, I know what guilt feels like, what it can do to someone."

"Fine, but you're on the floor."

"Alright, but wake me up if you need me again, okay?"

"Alright…" She agrees, shoving me off the edge of the bed. I tried making myself comfortable on the hardwood, and began to doze off. I woke up to the light of the sun peaking through the window, and noticed that I wasn't on the floor...and that Lux wasn't in the room. Panic and paranoia set in as I scrambled out the door while checking to see if she didn't prank me while I was asleep. With my face untouched, I ran down the stairs to see she was having breakfast with Klein, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why the panicked look D?" Lux and Klein ask in unison, klein in worry and Lux with her usual smirk on her face again.

"Oh, you know, reasons. Private reasons. Reasons that were talked about earlier that would give someone a heart attack when they realized the other person up and vanished." To say I was angry with her at this moment would be an understatement. I'm pretty sure I growled at some point while saying that.

[I'm fine, don't worry. Also I was thinking of sending you a message for when you woke up but I didn't want to wake you.] Lux says in a message before going back to her food.

"Sorry for snapping Klein, it's just…"

"No, I getcha, don't worry." He said, waving his hand. "You were just worried. No harm, no foul. Though, I do have to ask. Did Lux spend the night with you?" Lux spat out her drink as he said that.

"I was on the floor, but yeah. Let's just say she wasn't in much of a condition to leave and leave it at that." I explained, sitting down and ordering some fruit.

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life." Lux says covering her face. "You got in the bed with me!" She says exaggeratedly. I felt the blood drain from my face.

"I did? When? How? I fell asleep and don't remember waking up."

"Oh I dunno...at some point, you were like that when I woke up...oooh the embarrassment."

"Okay, now you're just faking it. Give the guy a break, would you?" Klein asked, pointing a fork at her. "I saw the look on your face last night as you knocked on his door. I was coming in from a walk, and you looked ready to burst, and that's how you treat him?" At that her smirk drops into a frown and she falls into a slump.

"You saw, huh? Well I am how I am because it'd be odd if I was acting any different, no?" she says to the man

"To me, you are acting different though. You were never like this over the last two years. You never once mocked me like you have when I told you the stories of when I did something stupid." I said, looking at her. "So what is it? What is it about this place that changed that nice person I knew?"

"Dude...Where the hell was this you when we first met?" Klein asked.

"He's always here, he just...doesn't like playing with others."

"It's...a sort of armour...A persona, I guess you could call it, I put up whenever I play a game, even here in SAO. I guess I defaulted to it. It was helping too, until someone had to point it out." She says staring at me then at Klein. "I took to it even more so after the announcement that we were stuck in here, and honestly I want to keep it. Helps with grinding." She says with a small chuckle.

"Grinding on my nerves, maybe." I mutter.

"Yeah, not to be that guy, since I really don't know what he's talking about, but...sure, it might help with mobs, but you aren't dealing with just them here. We're people, and you shouldn't treat anyone like that." Klein said.

"You are the wisest Bro I have ever met, and I've met a lot of Bros in my time." I said.

"Kleeein...D please...Don't push me for now." She almost pleads.

"Sorry, it's just...I miss the friend I stayed up all night talking with and falling asleep the next day in class because of it." Lux goes a small bit red at that.

"Shut up...Shut up. Shut up!" Lux shouts before running out of the inn.

"Hey Klein, could you go after her? I'm pretty sure I'm not the right person for her to be seeing after that." I said, rubbing the back of my head with my hand. "If she runs out of town, she might actually make good on those threats to kill me."

"Uh, sure." Klein says before dashing off after her.

"I should find Silica and let her know what's up. She's a part of our little group now too, after all." I say to myself before bringing the last piece of fruit with me. It didn't take too long for me to find her, her height makes it easy to do so, and I gave her the abridged version. "So that's the sitch. Any questions?"

"So why was Lux running away again?" Silica asks, tilting her head in confusion.

"I wish I knew the answer to that. I'm pretty sure I'll get a message from Klein when my life is no longer on the line, so...let's go power level."

[Hey buddy...Could you do whatever you did to Lux more often, because it works out for me! Haha. Anyway, I'm currently having to comfort her...Not complaining. -K]

[I don't know what I did, but I'm pretty sure I get the award for best wingman. You're welcome, and you owe me.-D] I couldn't help but give a nice belly laugh. To think that me being honest would start this off.

"Everything ok?" Silica asks while try to peak at the message...failing in the process.

"Everything is fine, for Klein, at least." I said, trying to reign in my laughter. "I'm pretty sure I accidentally started a something between those two. Come on, we have plenty of time to kill."

"Okay?" Silica said, not sounding sure about my answer. We went out to the fields, avoiding the one where we knew the people died, and got going. Silica had a slow start, but when she got going? It was impressive, that's for sure. I didn't think a girl could be that brutal with a dagger. "Yay! Level five!"

"Nice job." I congratulated. I had gotten to level eight over this time, so I can't say I'm disappointed either.

"So this is where you two have been. Alone...in the woods…"

"Klein, dear friend of mine, what is it that you seem to be implying." I said, giving myself a British accent while drawing my sword.

"Nothing, nothing. So, where are you two at now."

"I-I'm level five, and D is level eight." Silica answered.

"Nice." Klein turned to look over his shoulder for some reason. "Come on, these are your friends, you can at least say hi."

"H-Hey…" The voice of Lux said as she peaked out from behind the man. Here face was touched red, and she wouldn't make eye contact with anyone.

"What did you do to her?" I asked Klein, trying to get a good look at Lux.

"We had a bit of a heart-to-heart." He answered. "Let's just say we've reached an understanding."

"That's nice." Silica commented, smiling.

"There's still time left in the day...Wanna go hit up that quest we came here for?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Lux answered after a minute.

"Let's get going then!" Klein shouted, making his way back towards the town, Silica trailing behind him. I tried to go, but Lux stopped me.

"C-Can we talk...later?"

"Of course. My door's always open for a friend." I replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Now let's catch up before they do it without us."

"Okay!" She said, smiling brightly. It didn't take us too long to catch up and for the four of us to make it to town. "I just realized...Argo never told us where the NPC was…"

"You didn't ask?" Silica questioned.

"From what I heard about her, she'd charge even more just for that." Klein said. "We're just going to have to take the time searching. This place isn't that big." Turns out, even if it was a small town, it still took us over an hour to find her. The worried and desperate look on her face spoke volumes.

"Ma'am, is there something wrong?" I ask, approaching her.

"Thank you for your concern. May we talk about it inside?" The NPC asked, holding the door to her home open. The four of us walked in and she beckoned towards the table. I quirked an eyebrow, and the others just shrugged. "I'm sorry that I don't have any food to offer, but I do have water."

"T-that's fine." Silica said. That's kind of weird, because I could hear the telltale sound of a stew cooking over a fire. The four of us said our thank yous as she set the cups down. I took a sip but stopped as the sound of a child coughing came through the door on the other side of the room.

"What was that?" Klein asked.

"My daughter contracted an illness, and no medicine I have bought off from the market has helped. A doctor told me of a medicine that would work, but it requires part of a Little Nepenthes that has flowered."

"We can get it." Lux stated boldly, putting up her personal shield again.

"Y-You can!? Thank you so much! I don't have much, but my father left me a sword, but no one here uses it…"

"Let's worry about helping your daughter first." I chuckled, standing up. "Let's roll out."

"You're not funny." Klein said was we headed to the location that the quest marked on the map.

"Klein, what are you talking about?" Lux asked, walking closely beside him...Is she grabbing onto his shirt?

"His full username is a Transformer, and one of the biggest catchphrases from the series is 'roll out'." The older man explained.

"Oh." Lux and Silica said at the same time.

"How deep in this forest do you think we have to go?" I ask, looking into the woods that Silica and I had happened to have been in earlier.

"We weren't in that far when we were grinding. Maybe they're close." Silica answered.

"Does it specify where we have to go?" Lux asks. I opened up the quest menu and checked.

"Mm...Nope." I answered, popping the "P".

"So we just need to get lucky...D, Mind not entering the forest?" Lux asks politely.

"So you want to get lucky in the woods with Klein, huh? Silica, you might want to stay out here too." Lux proceeds to bury her head into Klein's back instead of responding. I could see that her ears were bright red. Klein also seemed a bit tinged red.

"Why would I not help out?" Silica asks innocently.

"Stay innocent, little one. Stay innocent." I said, patting her head.

"Let's just go." Lux's muffled voice could be heard saying.

"Yeeaaah…that sounds good to me." Klein said, walking.

"Oh, this is not being let go." I mutter. "This is only the beginning." Hehehe…

"Why are you laughing?" Oh shit that wasn't supposed to be out loud.

"No reason, Silica. No reason at all."

"So we only need one right?" Lux double checks, removing her face from Klein's back, but still stayed just as close.

"Yeah, just the one." I said. There was a clearing up ahead, and it was full of monsters that looked like bulbs with giant lips and vines on them. "I...don't see any ones with flowers. How about you guys?" Lux draws her sword and sighs.

"You guys know what to do."

"Genocide it is." I grinned. We may be in a death game, but this is still pretty cool.

"Kill them all, let Kayaba sort them out." Klein joked.

"I understood that reference." Lux said with a straight face.

"Um…"

"We're going to kill them and hope the respawned ones have the flower." Klein explained to Silica. Because of my shitty luck, it took us the rest of the day to get the damnable thing to spawn. "...Maybe Lux was right…"

"In cases of judging how my luck affects things...she usually is." I agreed as we dragged ourselves to the woman's home. "I...am going to find a kitchen, and making myself some hot chocolate."

"Make me one too!" Lux cheers from behind Klein's back.

"C-Can I have one too?" Silica asked shyly.

"Well, if Mama D is offering…" Klein shrugged.

"Fine, fine. Gonna have to get more ingredients, but I just need enough for two more." I chuckled. "Maybe we can get Silica some better gear while we're at it."

"Oh no. You are NOT picking out her armor." Lux said, coming out from behind her "boyfriend" and grabbed my exposed collar. "You understand?"

"I don't think your boyfriend is complaining about my choices." I countered, looking at Klein. "You're welcome." He just gives a silent thumbs up, choosing not to kick the hornet's nest. A few moments later Lux walks off, taking Silica with her.

"She's gonna tear your head from your shoulders." Klein stated.

"She'll be mad, yeah, but hopefully this goes as planned. She's always gotten over things quickly enough, like when I teased her that one time for liking her one friend."

"How'd that play out?"

"It didn't, but she took it in stride."

"Ah, I see. Well, if your safe, then that's good. Can't be losing my wingman."

"All I am to you is a crutch!" I said overdramatically.

"You would know about crutches."

"That I would, Klein. That I would. Let's catch up, I have shopping to do." We start making our way but get interrupted when i get a message from silica

[D somethings up with lux!]

[What's wrong?] I sent back to Silica.

[we were walking just fine then all of a sudden she froze before curling up into a ball...she's refusing to move.]

[Um...that's new...Hold on, we'll be right there.]

"What's up?"

"Lux is having a mental breakdown in public. We should get moving."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Klein and I hauled ass to town, where a crowd had formed. Between their legs you could see the balled up form of our friend. "Hey! Get lost!" He shouted, charging through and dispersing the group. "Hey, are you ok-whoa!" As soon as he got down to talk with her, she latched onto him and nearly pulled him onto the ground with her. "H-hey...What's up Lux?" Klein asks slowly. He doesn't get a response in the form of words, instead all she does is cry and maybe mumble something, but if she did I couldnt make it out.

"Hey, let's go get the hot chocolate stuff. That should help. Maybe." I whispered to the girl next to me, pointing at the stall I need.

"Okay." Silica nodded. I also sent a message to Klein saying to come up to my room, so the four of us could talk in private. Because of the scene Lux made, people were much more busy gawking at her than getting stuff from vendors, which made shopping easy. "How do we make it?"

"The inns have kitchens that guests can use, as long as they have the ingredients. We just have to put it in a pot for each one, and let the system take care of the rest. It's a bummer, really. I like making hot coco from scratch."

"I see." She said, sounding older for a moment. Thankfully my generally shitty luck doesn't apply in the kitchen anymore, so each of us had two cups in hand when we saw the two in front of my door. Lux was still thoroughly attached to Klein, but it was more of a him holding her type of thing.

"Let me get the door." I say, fishing the key out carefully without spilling either drink. Once it was open, I ushered them in. "Set her on the bed." I set one of the cups on the table and walked over to the now sitting Lux.

"Sorry for causing a scene…" Lux quietly said, looking towards the ground.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Klein said.

"It's not your fault." Silica added.

"Here." I said, handing her the cup in my hand before sitting next to her. Carefully, I put a hand on her back and started tracing small circles.

"What are yo-"

"My mom used to do this for me when I was upset about something. After a while, it always helped me feel better, so I thought maybe it'd help you now."

"I'm starting to think my Mama D joke isn't as much of a joke as I thought." Klein mused.

"I'm sorry…" Was all she said.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." Silica said. "Sometimes things happen." She gave one of her cups to Klein before sitting to Lux's other side. "Drink with me!" She added cheerfully. Lux spoke no differently then before but did as Silica said and drank with her.

"Can you tell us what's wrong? We can't help you if we don't know." I pleaded, moving on to a shoulder hug.

"...Mama…" Lux mutters. Feeling the mood, Klein took the cup from her, and we all kind of just sat there with her. My hug escalated into a full blown thing, and it didn't take long for the others to join us.

"We're here for you, Lux. You don't have to carry this yourself, whatever it is." Klein said. Lux stays silent but gives a faint smile.

"That's better." I said. "Do you want to stay here again? I don't mind." Not gonna lie, I've also gotten a bit comfy.

"Pervert." She whispers.

"There she is." Silica teased. Wow. Wasn't expecting that from her, but okay.

"My door is open also." Klein says not fully thinking it through.

"Are you going to be waiting in the 'paint me like one of your French girls' pose too?" I asked.

"Eh ah uh...I meant...uh...I'm just gonna go." He says standing up, head lowered in shame.

"Hey, come back! I didn't...I shouldn't have opened my fucking mouth…" I growl to myself. As I finish saying that Lux bursts out laughing out of nowhere.

"Hahaha…! Oh god, I haven't heard that one in forever...That cheered me up, thanks so- I mean D." Lux says, trying to stop herself from laughing.

"I don't mind if you say my name in private. It's not like anyone's going to know me. But uh...maybe you should find him." Lux nods and frees herself from the hug before going off to search for Klein. "You should get going too. It's getting dark, and Lux'll probably try turning you staying here alone with me into a joke for when I tease those two later."

"Okay. Goodnight." The girl left, and two things came to mind. We never took her to get new gear and my coco got cold. "Dammit!" After relaxing with a bath and laying in bed, a thought couldn't leave my mind. 'What happened with her mom?'

And scene...Finally! **I didn't expect this to take the turn that it did, but I guess that's what happens when you decide to change the backstory of a character on me.** Shhh...shh...dont tell them that. **Too late! It happened. I'm just glad that we aren't just completely jumping into the plot, but actually building character. And yes, I know I'm pushing the Klein thing, but it's cute and I love it.** Hm...Indeed...Now then, before this gets too long let's end this chapter here. **Sounds good. Peace!** Tehg out.


	3. Chapter 3

**And right into chapter three from the time of writing! Alright!** Hoorah! **So...plot?** Plot or "plot"? **...Yes. Maybe. Not sure...We're doing the thing again.** Eh? **The random banter that has nothing to do with what's about to happen.** Lets just begin then…

"...Fucking birds…" I groaned, annoyed with the chirping that woke me up. It's been a few days since Lux's shutdown, and we spent that time getting Silica up to spunk. Klein left with his friends to move on to a different town, saying they all got what they needed here. Her gear consisted of a blue coat with a hood, black skirt, black stockings and brown boots. She also has a goblin dagger as her weapon that she got as a drop from when we came across a small group of goblins inside of a cave. We later found out it was a field boss after paying a small lump sum to Argo, no thanks to Lux. "What are we supposed to be doing today? I think I wrote it down…" Tiredly I flipped through the notes section of my menu. "Another field boss, huh? Fine. Maybe I could get something for once. Everybody else gets loot, but no. Not me. Never me." My grumbling continued as I stormed my way downstairs. "And of course it's still dark out. Why would Kayaba even put in birds that sing before the sun is up?"

"I think he might be out for you in particular. I didn't hear any birds." Lux answered from a table in the inn's dining area.

"I don't know what I did. I'm not the one that tossed his special magic mirror."

"I didn't know what it would do…" She replies.

"Is Silica on her way? You did say we should be out of here soon." I asked, adjusting my scarf.

"She's sleepy, but she said she'd be down soon...That was an hour ago though, so she's probably still asleep."

"Why were you trying to wake her up an hour ago? That's even earlier than we agreed on."

"Me and Klein went out farming for EXP...He's alright by the by."

"Cool, but that still doesn't explain why you would do that to Silica."

"I got back an hour ago, fell asleep in the chair here after waking her up and you just woke me up."

"Akiyo, you know you need more sleep than that." I scolded. "I don't care if it was to go on a murder-date."

"I did get more sleep though...I was only out for like two hours."

"Really?" I said, leaning in and resting my elbows on the table with my fingers interlaced.

"Hm, Silica can vouch for me...Actually, speaking of…" She says before opening her menu and sends someone a message and gets a message straight after. "I'm going to kill that kid."

"Your threats on killing people aren't really much of anything after all the times you've said it to me."

"I know…" She says, sighing. "I regret agreeing to room with her."

"Why? What's wrong with her?"

"Kid likes to spoon in her sleep...just sent me a message saying she misses her pillow."

"Wait...if you're the pillow...doesn't that make you the little spoon?" Lux goes a bit red and before she could answer Silica comes walking into the room. "Also, I don't blame her. You were nice to hug."

"He is right...So, what are we talking about?" Silica asks inserting herself into the conversation.

"...Boss...Let's kill. Now." Lux manages to say despite the blush on her face.

"Sure thing, Teddy. We can get going." I chuckled. Lux nearly darted out the door as we stood up. "She leans into it, doesn't she?" I whispered to Silica.

"Hm. She does." She answers.

"That's adorable...We should get going though. I don't know how long she can last before...you know…"

"Good point…" It was a good thing we left when we did, because I saw the signs almost right away that she was close to a breakdown.

"This is why you should know not to go out alone. Not until we figure out how to get you past this." I said to Lux, reaching my hand out to the sitting and shaking girl.

"You know, if it does happen, we could always message Klein." Silica says with a teasing grin.

"Shush you…" Lux barely manages to get out.

"Well, I'm sure he'd come running, but we do need better solutions for when he can't. That just leaves you stuck with me for now." I laughed dryly. Lux mutters something under her breath before taking my hand and pulling on it to get up.

"Let's...just get out of town." She said, letting go, but staying close to the two of us, her gaze staying fixed to the ground.

"You can still hang on. I don't mind." I suggested as we walked.

"Want my sword shoved through you?" she asks, lowly.

"Nope. Just trying to help a friend." At this point, it's just better to ignore the threats.

"...nk...u." She mutters but I couldn't make out everything.

"You're welcome." I whisper quietly, knowing she wanted to keep this quiet. "It's a pain in the ass that we have to walk back to Tolbana." I say a little louder than normal talking, forcefully moving on to a different conversation.

"True, but it's worth it. I spoke with Argo, and she wouldn't confirm nor deny, but rumor has it that it might drop something useful for you." Lux say with immediate regret.

"Why do you talk to her so regularly? You talking to her is like a gambling addict walking into a casino. You're gonna lose all your money." I laughed.

"We're friends, ok...? We don't always talk business. We socialize also."

"Is that why she charges you extra?" Silica asked. "Are you buying friends?"

"ONE TIME…! You guys won't ever let me live it down will ya?"

"I'm the one that had to fork over half his cash so that you actually had money in your account." I deadpanned. "Pretty sure I'm allowed to hold this one over you."

"Oh really, mister tried leveling up the sprint skill without equipping it first?" She retorts.

"Yup, and unlike you I'll own that."

"Why!?" Lux cries out.

"Because it was a learning experience." I replied. "See, Silica? Now you know not to make the same mistakes I did."

"I read the guidebook…" Silica says, feeling a bit guilty. "Didn't you?"

"Before then? No. No I did not. I had something else to focus on. Like being able to run again, and using that refound ability to run for my life." I answered, looking pointedly at Lux. She proceeded to look away, seemingly pretending to have no idea what I'm referring to.

"C'mon guys, lets hustle. We're burning...well the sun's just starting to come up so I can't even say that...we're burning night time?" Lux asks...more confused at the end of her sentence then anything.

"The phrase you're looking for is 'wasting moonlight'." I corrected.

"You Americans and your funny phrases." She says sarcastically.

"Tch. Say whatever you like, Cuddly, but you know I'm right." I laughed. She ignored me and decided to dash ahead.

"Think she will be alright?" Silica asks, honestly worried.

"She should be...until she gets to town. Then it's a whole different ball game." I said, equally worried. I was right in my prediction. She was on the edge of town behind the bread place, hunkered down.

"Couldn't we have just passed by here instead of going through here?" Lux asks me as we approach her.

"You wanted to take the quickest route." I shrugged. "Seriously, though, can you do this? We can go around." She takes a deep breath before standing up.

"It's pretty much a straight line right?"

"It should be, if the map you gave me is right." Silica said. Without a moment to think, she starts dashing down the streets of the town as fast as her legs would take her. "I have a feeling that skill is gonna be maxed out by the time we clear this game…" Silica admits, sighing.

"Probably, but there's also a good chance that she'll realize just how long the street she's going down is. Or that's she's gonna have to turn left at some point."

[Made it. - L]

"Huh. According to her she made it." I said. "Seems a little too quick, really."

[Are you sure about that? You finished quick, even for you.-D]

[Check your map if you don't believe me, just hurry up.]

"Ruin my fun, why don't you." I say to myself, walking. "Come on, Silica, before we stop dealing with Lux and start dealing with Miss Pissy Britches." With a relative swiftness, we found her on the edge of town, where she quickly rejoined us.

"Maybe you should stop running off like that." Silica noted. "If you move that quick when we're gone for a few minutes…"

"Complain later. Let's go fight now...Ok?" She asks, half eager-half trying to keep her eyes away from the now lively town.

"You know where we're going?" Silica asks.

"It's near the dungeon, but it's exact location is beyond me. Argo wanted money for that info." She admits with a chuckle.

"Guess we're exploring then. Did you get the local map data, at least?" I ask, hoping she'd say yes.

"Who do you take me for, you?" Lux asks sarcastically.

"Yeah, that one time in the [Town of Beginnings] where you decided that me leading was a good idea after egging me on all day."

"Can we not fight? Please?" Silica pleads.

"Sure, sure." Lux agrees, looking at the map. She thinks for a moment before her head darts back up. "Figured it out!"

"Where the Field Boss is?" I ask. What? She could have something else she was thinking about.

"Nooo, I figured out what I wanted for dinner. Yes I know where it is. There's this blank spot in the area. Everywhere else has been explored so it could only be that area." She says starting to get energetic and excited, almost battle crazy.

"Cool, but...Seriously, what do you want for dinner? I've got some new recipes I could try."

"Cook later, fight now!" Lux shouts, starting to get antsy.

"You know she won't calm down when there's a fight involved." Silica says, chuckling a small bit.

"Yeah. Doesn't mean that someone shouldn't learn how to calm her tits." I huff, moving towards the area she pointed out.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Lux cheers, almost like her own personal mantra.

"I think that means no…" Silica interprets. We fought our way to the area, Lux visibly calming the more we did, until we got to an open area with boulders around it. Inside was a large Kobold, called [The Kobold General], and a lone person was fighting against it. From the marks that were left on her person from attacks, she wasn't doing too great.

"Lux?" I ask.

"She's trying to steal my kill!" She roared, darting in to fight the boss.

"...Nevermind then. Silica, mind making sure she doesn't get herself killed so that I can help that girl." I ran over before she could answer, pulling out one of the extra health potions I bought just for this. "Hey. Saw you could use a hand." I say to her, handing her the potion while [The Kobold General] was distracted. Her amber eyes looked to the bottle before taking it. Her light brown hair with long bangs that reached the middle of her back flowed downwards as she drank from it, and she had her longsword ready even while she did so.

" _Spasibo_. I mean, thank you." She says with a slight Russian accent. As she straightened up, I noticed that she was wearing a red shirt, red skirt that is practically made of ruffles, and brown boots that curved outwards at the top. "I forget that not everyone understands Russian."

"It's alright. We've got more important fish to fry." I say, bringing my sword to bear. It had some dings and scratches, but I haven't really found a blacksmith. Haven't really looked, but still. She leapt forward and I followed her lead. She used [Vertical] and I followed with a [Reverse Vertical], knocking its club up into the air. "Hit it 'til it dies!" I yell, recovering from the sword skill to use [Cyclone]. Acting like a wild animal, Lux just keeps charging with multiple [Rage Spike]s and a few [Slant]s here and there. Silica tries to attack, but whenever she gets close the thing's tail knocks her back. She does manage to get a few hits in before getting hit, but those are few and far between. The girl we found chained together a [Vertical], a [Slant], and finally a two hit move called [Snake Bite].

"Switch!" She yells.

"What are you talking about?"

"What we did before, idiot!"

"Oh." I charge past her, hacking into it a few times with diagonal slashes before using [Cleave] like on that starting boar. It shattered, as all monsters do, and I got a little notification with my normal loot menu. "Last hit bonus? Finally! Real loot!" I cheer. I got a weapon called [Hackett's Greatsword], and equipping it revealed a simple steel blade with a hilt shaped a cross and the pommel matched it. "Coool…"

"So, care to introduce me to your girlfriend?" Lux asks with a smirk.

"I had this coming, but I didn't think it'd come this soon. But, uh...yeah...um...Who are you?"

"Hehe...Where did all that bravado go?" The girl giggles. " _Privyet_. My named is Rain."

"A pleasure, Rain. This bumbling oaf is D." Lux says after chuckling at Rain's comment.

"I'm sorry! She's pretty and it makes me nervous!" I blurt out loud.

"I know that she's pretty D, but say that to her face and not me." Lux says, laughing and sharing a look with Rain.

"Oh, um, I..uh…" Brain! Status report! 'We don't know what the fuck to do!' Figure something out, we look like idiots!

"Hehe...so you think I'm pretty? Thank you." Rain says, her cheeks going a slight bit red. "Take some deep breaths. Do you think you could introduce yourself without your friend doing it for you?"

"Yeah...Yeah, I should be good." I say, recovering from this epic fumble. "I'm [DeadEnd], but it's easier for everyone if you call me D."

"How hard was that…? You two love birds have fun, I'm gonna see if Silica is somewhere in the blast zone…" Lux chuckles before casually walking away.

"Spasi- uh, thank you for your help. I don't know what might of happened if I continued to fight."

"It's no problem. We were looking for this Field Boss anyway. Helping you was just an added bonus."

"Your group must be decently strong then. Again, thank you." She adds again, her blush returning.

"Seriously, don't worry about it. It's nice enough knowing that I saved someone from this damn place. What made you think taking on a Boss of any kind solo was a good idea?"

"I...I uh." She starts looking a little nervous. "I thought it was a good idea to take it on, and I normally run solo so that answers why I was alone." She admits.

"Then how about you stick around with us? We've been going around doing the same thing, and there really is strength in numbers here. We're a ragtag little group, but we get things done alright."

" _Pozdravlyayu_ , you grew a backbone you _lukavaya sobaka_." The familiar teasing voice of Lux says arriving back on scene with Silica in tow...Although the Russian is a new thing.

"Um...I don't know what those words ment and that makes me scared."

"She said congrats...Do you wanna know the other one?" Rain translates for me.

"I do, but only to take care of it. You know, nip it at the bud?"

"Sly dog. You know Russian, Lux?" She asks her, taking an interest in the girl.

"Wait, it's not like that! I was just...you know...like with how we brought Silica into our group! Yeah, that's it!" Yeah, that's totally the only reason I'd like to keep this fun, ass-kicking cheery girl around.

"I'm aware, just teasing...Yes, I know Russian. I had a lot of time on my hands so I thought why not?" Lux says to me first then Rain, being a lot more animated in her response to Rain.

"Did you really just say she was pretty?" Silica asks in a whisper while the two older girls talked.

"Lux told you that, huh?"

"Everything."

"God damn her…" I groan, hiding my face in my hands as I felt my face burn. While me and Silica were talking the two girls got to chatting, about what I have no idea as it was, I presume, in Russian.

"Did you know she could…?" Silica trails off.

"No. I had no idea about the Russian."

"The inns only have room for two...what's the room arrangement gonna be like, you think?" She asks, curious.

"No matter what it is, I'm probably gonna have to get used to sleeping on the floor. I can already feel the back pain."

"I have a feeling those two are gonna wanna room to be honest...Not sure why." Silica says sarcastically.

"I don't know. I think she'll miss spooning with you." I hummed.

"Hey guys, let's get going back to the inn! I'm tired." Lux says, grabbing Rain and running off ahead with her.

"I told you you needed to get more sleep!" I yell, giving chase with Silica not too far behind. As we make our way into the inn we see Rain trying to lift an unconscious Lux up the stair to the inn rooms. "Here, let me give you a hand with that." I said, getting under Lux's other arm and used my height to take most of her weight.

"Uh, _spasibo_." Rain says with a faint smile, too busy focusing on lifting Lux.

"No problem. I've kind of took it on myself to see that everyone's doing okay, so helping you get her to bed is the least I could do."

"There's that bravado again." She comments with a small smirk.

"It comes and goes. Wish I could control it." I mutter the last part, but I have the feeling she could hear me anyway, seeing as how her smirk faultered. We make our way down the hall and stop before her room. "She has the 'key' in her inventory, doesn't she. Shit." I figured since I was with our Russian friend, I might get away with my English trick again.

"D…" Silica says from behind me.

"Do you often speak in English?" Rain asks, curious.

"I was born in the States, so I'd like to say I'm fluent, but I haven't as much since moving to Japan, excpet for acing my English classes." I say. I figured it'd probably be a bit rude to tell her I was doing it to censor myself in a way.

"If only she knew what you said." Silica whispered to me.

"Shut up, I'm trying not to be rude here."

"Rude about what?" Rain asks, head tilted.

"I...said that louder than I meant to…"

"Yes...yes you did." A now awake Lux says, with a sleepy but annoyed face.

"I will drop you." I threaten Lux.

"No you wouldn't. You like living."

"You never act on those threats except that one time, and even then you calmed down quick."

"Just...let go. How am I suppose to access my inventory like this?" She asks, avoiding the objection.

"Very carefully." I quip.

"Do you two know each in real life?" Rain asks while letting Lux go. "That does not seem like banter that two people knowing each other for a week would share."

"Sadly…" Lux answers, opening her menu for a minute before closing it and then opens the door. "Long story…" She adds before entering the room, dragging me with her, stops, looks up at me and gives me an awkward look. "This is not your room...get out. Also, Silica, you have been reassigned to his room...for now." She then pries my arm off her before walking over to her bed and falling onto it without another word.

"Well that happened." Silica comments.

"That fucking woman…" I sigh."...Well, looks like you're stuck with me for the foreseeable future. Sorry." I apologize to the youngest person among us.

"Wait, did Rain ever say she'd go with us?" Silica just now mentions. We turn our heads to look at the woman and she just giggled.

"I never did tell you two, did I? I guess I can tag along. Seems fun." She answers for us before stepping further into Lux's room. "I guess that means I'm in here then, no?"

"Yup. Well, since Klein has dubbed me Mama D, I'm making the executive decision that we're taking the next few days off to rest, recover, and not put our lives on the line for once."

"Who is Klein?" Rain asks.

"Lux's boyfriend, though she won't admit it."

"Stop that!" Silica says, jamming an elbow into my ribs. "They aren't like that, and stop telling people otherwise!"

"But they're so cute!" I whine.

"Imma kill you." Lux mumbles in her sleep.

"No you won't." Silica and I say at the same time.

"Well I guess we better get some sleep?" Rain suggests, trying to shoo us out.

"Okay, okay. Get some sleep. I'm not that bad off, and I think I saw something in my cooking list that's a baked good."

"Have fun! _Dobroy nochi_...uh goodnight…" She cheerfully says whilst closing the door on us. I checked my list of recipes and saw that the baked goods I remembered was sugar cookies.

"Hey Silica?"

"What's up?" She replies with whilst checking her inventory.

"Wanna go bake some cookies?" Her eyes start shining.

"Yes!" Is her instant response.

"They're only sugar cookies, but they're better than nothing."

"Cookies are cookies." Silica says, starting to radiate happiness.

"Fair enough. Too bad icing is higher up in the skill. Then we'd really have some fun."

"You really like baking, don't you? Imagine if Argo or Klein found out."

"Argo probably already knows, and if Klein found out, there's only one person who would tell him without him having to sell a kidney."

"Of course I know, nyahahaha…"

"Speak of the devil and she shall appear." I groan, deciding to exercise my English in a sentence for once.

"I make more than the devil could." Argo counters.

"Why are you here?" Silica asks.

"I was wandering around and heard you talking. Any info is better than no info."

"What about that thing we did?" Silica hints at, catching onto Argo's nature a lot quicker then Lux did. Granted, that's a really low bar, but…

"That Field Boss did drop me a sword." I muse.

"Details on the boss, details of the sword?" Argo asks in quick succession, as if second nature.

"How much for each?" I ask.

"What's it worth to ya'?"

"Hm...well, the boss was a pain to deal with, and the swords pretty good, so...two hundred fifty thousand." Argo turns away and starts walking away. "I am willing to negotiate." She turns back around, a cheshire grin on her face, clear as day.

"Ten thousand."

"Finding the boss was more trouble than that's worth. Fifty thousand."

"Twenty."

"Twenty five."

"Twenty."

"...*sigh*...Well, it's more than I thought I'd get...Fine. Twenty thousand."

"Pleasure doin' business with ya'." She says, trading over the money, then looks at me expectantly.

"The boss was called [The Kobold General], used a club and its tail constantly, three bars of health, and fought with wide circular swings and nasty downward slams. The sword is [Hackett's Greatsword], and has comparable stats to the [Anneal Blade], though adjusted for it's weapon type, of course." I report as she jotted everything down. "Blade is thinner than the one you've seen with me before by about three inch...goddamn metric. About eight centimeters, but has half that added on in blade length."

"And done. Hmm, thought there was another drop...Either I was wrong or you got unlucky." She says absentmindedly, but still to me.

"Wouldn't be the first time, but it was the last hit bonus, so maybe it didn't drop at all or someone else got it and never said."

"Field bosses don't respawn, so either I had bad intel and was wrong or you guys were unlucky." She repeats herself, adding on that bit of information. "One hundred Cor."

"Piss off, you gave that to us without us even asking." I cross my arms. "I'm not paying for something I didn't even want."

"You have guts, kid, I'll give ya' that…" Argo admits with a smile. She then starts turning around. "Unless you have anything to ask, I have a meeting to go to."

"Have a nice rest of your day, Argo." I say politely. Trying to swindle me or not, we did have a legitimate transaction.

"Bye, Argo!" Silica waves. "Can we go get our cookie ingredients now?"

"See ya." She says before turning a corner.

"It's a good thing Lux was sleeping during this, wasn't it?" Silica asks.

"Oh yeah." I agree. "She would've barely gotten a third of what I did, and she would've taken the bait with the field boss info."

"That's because as I heard her say before, 'Argo's information is useful. Not paying for good info is too good to be true'." Silica says, doing her best Lux impresion.

"That was pretty good, but don't do it to her face. That one she might actually kill you for." With my warning, I started perusing the stalls for the ingredients I need for a few batches of the sugary dessert, as well as a book to read.

"Why the book?" Silica asks.

"Because this recipe actually makes us wait out the IRL baking time, and since we're making more than one batch, it'll be a while. Gotta have something to do while we wait."

"Ah." She says, getting a smaller one for herself. Since I was sharing a room now, I figured it would also be smart to get a pair of shorts to sleep in, finally. After mixing everything together back at the inn, half an hour passed and the three dozen cookies were finished. "They look good!"

"And we aren't going to have any until we're all able to." I comment, putting them into my inventory. "It wouldn't be the same if we could enjoy them and they couldn't."

"You just want Rain to taste what you made."

"T-That's not...completely true…"

"Fine…" Silica says, not buying it.

"So...what do we do now? I'm not tired enough to sleep."

"Well I am." Silica says, yawning. "You...do you." She adds before disappearing.

"Hm...Maybe I should go back to the place I got the shorts for a shirt. The less awkward of a situation staying with a twelve year old, the better. Could probably upgrade some of my gear while I'm at it." I pause for a moment. "I'm talking out loud to myself. Why?" As I was talking to myself, a message appears in my inbox.

[You busy? I need an extra pair of hands for a quest. - Kirito.]

[Was just gonna head somewhere to upgrade my gear, but that could wait. -D]

[There's this quest that requires two or more people to do. Your group is welcome to come if they aren't busy.]

[Yeah...about that...They're all asleep because of the field boss we took down earlier today. Where do you need me? I'm in Tolbana.]

[I'm in the area, can you help me in the morning then? I want to get this quest done. Klein is busy and...uh…]

[And you have no other friends? But sure. Question though. How early is morning for you, because one of us doesn't exactly do mornings.]

[6:00 sharp. Meet me in the town square.]

[Alright. Sounds doable enough. See you then.] Kirito stopped messaging after that and I did what I decided I would, spending most of my Cor and the materials I've built up getting all my sword up to plus three at the NPC blacksmith. Would've went higher, but I didn't want to push my luck and I like having money in my pocket.

"Still not even six P.M., huh? Damn." That leaves me with two options, and neither were exactly desirable. "Going to the dungeon alone is just begging for death, and I really don't want to sleep this early, even if I have to wake up at an unholy hour." I check my inventory for materials, and got an idea. Time to use the kitchen again. It...took a few tries, because I was trying to use the most difficult recipe from this tier of the cooking skill, but I made a simple stew that should be enough to feed all of us tomorrow afternoon. "It didn't turn into a monster. That's all that matters." I sigh, stashing the item in my inventory. "Eight at night. Cool...I really should talk to someone about this talking out loud thing. There's got to be some psych student or something in here somewhere." I enter the room as quietly as I could, as to not awaken Silica. That'd be rude. I make my way into the bathroom to wash off and change. While soaking for a bit, I decide to leave a message saying that there had been a change in the relaxing plan because Kirito decided we'd do a thing, and since Lux and I were his only available friends/acquaintances, I figured it'd be nice to help. "They're gonna hate me for the wake up time, but oh well. Lux'll be happy, at least." Sleep didn't come easy, but I did eventually fall asleep. The alarm I set in my menu woke me up at five-thirty, and when I stand up Silica was still sleeping. "Silica, wake up." I say groggily, shaking her shoulder. "I don't want to be up either, but I made a deal with an MMO junky worse than Lux, and I'm pretty sure there's good shit in it for us."

"Dnt wna...slep…" The girl groans, rolling over.

"I'll play the cookie card if you don't." I deadpan. I'm not above blackmail.

"Hands off me cookies." The child says, deathly serious, turning to face me.

"First of all, my cookies. I don't have to share, and their mission is now successful. Now get dressed."

"Now that you're done...Get out so I can get changed." Silica orders. I retreat to the bathroom to also change, and wait for my own safety. "I'm done."

"Cool. Let's go see if the others are awake. Knowing Lux and the mention of quests…"

"She'll have been up hours ago." Silica finishes as we walk down the stairs. At one of the many empty tables was a practically vibrating Lux and a grumpy Rain.

"What did you do?" Rain asks with a hiss. "She's been like this for an hour."

" _Poisk!_ " Lux screams excitedly. "You're here...Let's go!" She adds, trying to stand up but Rain stops her.

"I'm so sorry." I apologize. "I...may have forgotten to message you because I was tired in the bath and didn't realize we weren't on each other's friends list. And I'm also sorry for...that…" I add, pointing at Lux. "We probably should have warned you about how much she likes MMOs before you became roommates."

" _Ne volnuysya..._ Uh, don't worry. I could have guessed as much from when she couldn't stop moving as she woke up." Rain tells me with a small giggle.

"She's right though. We should probably get moving. It's almost six." Silica says, looking at the clock in her menu.

"I thought I could hear you guys." A familiar voice calls out, entering the inn. "Uh...Why is Lux bouncing off the walls?"

"Well, I originally said we were all gonna take a break and just...chill...then I told her we were going on a quest. This is the result."

"You have made a terrible mistake and all the cookies we made couldn't make it better." Silica deadpans.

"I'm not giving you all of the cookies. They're meant to be shared."

"You made cookies?" Kirito asks.

"Before your invite, yes. I also made stew for lunch." I answer.

"Sounds delicious, come on, let ge-" He couldn't even finish his sentence before Lux darts past him. "Get going...uh...I guess you can introduce me to these two on the way." He finishes, looking back and forth from my group and the door Lux ran out of.

"I-I'm Silica." The girl introduced herself as we walked.

"Where am I going!?" Lux shouted from...somewhere…

"She has a point." Rain comments. " _Privyet_ , I'm Rain, and it would at least be helpful if you added us to your party." I should send her a friend request since we're doing menu things.

"Nice to meet you both, and I figured we could do that when we caught up to her." Kirito explains. Lux was standing on the edge of town near the exit that we came to Tolbana from the Town of Beginnings. "You could have waited for us." Kirito huffs before opening his menu. "You didn't give me the chance to add everyone to the party."

"Sorry. I got excited." Lux says bashfully.

"It's fine, I guess. We need to go that way." Kirito explains, pointing to our West.

"That is the middle of nowhere though." Rain comments.

"I had to do some digging, as well as asking Argo, but the quest I found unlocked a mini-dungeon that was hidden underneath a boulder. We have to get the item that is at the end of it. I couldn't do it alone because there's two branching paths that we have to clear at the same time. I tried, and once I cleared one path and went back to the second, the first one reset."

"And since solo-player supreme here doesn't really have friends, and Klein was busy...here we are." I finish, taking an opportunity to take a dig at him. As brilliant as he is with this game, you'd think he'd have more friends in a goddamn MMO.

"So, you asked us to fill out your numbers? Well, you asked the right person for help then." Lux says, looking at me.

"Why are you staring at him like that?" The three that weren't in the know asked at the same time.

"The very first quest I accepted I never read the details of before accepting it, and it was an escort quest." I explain.

"He'll accept any quest in front of him." Lux says, looking dead on the inside.

"That's an admiral trait, given how real the NPCs were made." Rain admits after a minute. "And it shows a level of dedication, and something I tend to do from time to time."

"Ehehe...Thanks…" I chuckle nervously, scratching the back of my neck.

"We should get going. If what Argo said was true, then the quest is disabled after the first team clears it." Kirito states, beginning to walk. It took us an hour and change to reach the location, and the boulder that Kirito was talking about looked like something hit it from underneath and had it crash somewhere else.

"That's not ominous or anything." Lux says, crossing her arms.

"From what I saw inside, there isn't any mob down there that could do that." Kirito says, dispelling any worry anyone had. "Because of the way this dungeon works, I could only get to the first room for each path. One had a [Goblin] in it, and the other had a [Wood Golem].

"Sounds like fun." I say sarcastically. "Do we get to pick our groups, or does the dungeon decide, because there's an odd number of us."

"I'm...not sure...I've only ever explored on my own, so I don't know how the dungeon splits our party"

"S-So we just have to hope that the teams aren't unbalanced?" Silica asks.

"That is what it sounds like." Rain answers. "Though I doubt we will have much trouble." We descend the stairs quickly. The room it led to was small and had no other exits besides the way we came in. In the center of it was a circle of stones that were too smooth and symmetrical to be natural.

"Is that how we get into this thing?" I ask, pointing at the ring.

"Yes. Once everyone from the party is in it, we should be put on the two paths." Kirito answers. He steps into it, and the others follow, but I just took a second to make sure I had enough potions...which I didn't…

"Are you coming?" Lux asks, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, just double checking something." This should go well. I step into the ring, and a light fills my vision. When it fades, I find myself in a hallway with Lux and Rain.

"What were you double checking?" Rain asks.

"My potion count." I answer.

"You don't have enough, do you?" Lux asks rhetorically.

"I should be fine, but I don't know how things will go if it hits the fan." I say, shrugging my shoulders. Looking down the corridor, I couldn't see the end of the hallway, even though there were torches lighting it. Lux and Rain took the lead, and began talking in Russian. It was fine at first, that's gonna happen, but after ten minutes of not understanding and trying not to stare or anything, it was getting pretty awkward. "Hey...guys? Would you mind not talking in Russian for a bit. I get that you like that someone else speaks your language, but it's been really awkward for the last...six or so minutes…"

" _Sozhaleyu_." Rain says, turning around and bowing. I will never understand that part of apologizing in Japan. "I got caught up in talking to someone else in my native tongue and I forgot how it would affect anyone we were with."

"It's alright. I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing if I were in your shoes." I say, trying to get her to stop bowing.

"I don't think you minded at all. How much were you looking at us?" Lux says, glaring at me.

"I...may have taken a passing glance or two…" I admit. There really isn't a point in hiding it.

"Oh really?" Lux questions, taking a step towards me. "And why should I believe you?"

"...You don't have a reason to, but I swear I kept myself from looking at either of you." I say, defending myself. "And if that offended either of you, I'm sorry. I just thought that it'd drive my crazy if I didn't look at something that wasn't this dungeon."

"I see...That makes sense, even if it does make me a little uncomfortable." Rain say.

"S-Sorry…"

"For an American, you sound more like a Canadian, Creep."

"This is the second time that fact about you has been brought up." Rain states. "You aren't from Japan either?"

"No, I only moved here a few years ago, and I'm still getting used to it." I shrug, chuckling. "You must be from Russia then."

"Yes, I am. I also moved to Japan in recent years, though I have been here longer. How would you know about that, Lux? You said before that you knew each other in real life. Are you from America too?"

"No. We bumped into each other on a forum string not long after he moved here, and we just ended up talking in a private chat." Lux still sounds pissed. "I still don't know if I regret it or not."

"I'd apologize, but you just aren't going to give a shit. Anyway, that was back when I still didn't know much about Japanese and was putting everything through a translator." I laugh. "I don't know what Dad was thinking, not teaching me anything before the move. There was so many hours spent by both of us trying to understand what the other was saying."

"Hmph...You were an idiot back then, too…But at least here we can keep you from making a fool of yourself, for the most part."

"Then why didn't you stop me yesterday when we first met Rain?" I ask, sounding more exasperated than I meant to.

"Like I said, for the most part. And it was funny at the time."

"Thanks Lux. Thanks."

"It sucks, doesn't it, having the shoe on the other foot?"

"We're at the door." Rain announces, interrupting what was slowly developing into an argument. I was hoping for the [Goblin]. We've already seen what they could do, so it wouldn't be that hard of a fight. Golems of any kind haven't shown up as Field Bosses or anything as far as I'm aware, so I'm not looking forward to dealing with that one. The slabs of stone moved out of our way, revealing an large open chamber. At the center was a large humanoid figure with one glowing red eye and appeared to be made of oak wood.

"It just had to be the golem, didn't it?" I groan. The [Wood Golem] began to make its way towards us as we entered the room with our weapons drawn.

"Quit your bitching and get ready to fight." Lux growls, getting into stance with her sword in front of her. Rain took a one foot back with her sword parallel to the ground, and I held my sword so the point was resting on the ground behind me. Lux being Lux charges forward, priming a [Slant] as she moved. The Sword Skill connected, but did very little damage to the mob's single hit bar. Rain followed up with a [Rage Spike] to use the opening as quickly as possible. I charge forward, blade dragging along before bringing it up for a [Cascade]. The [Wood Golem] didn't seemed fazed by our three attacks and proceeds to swing its right arm horizontally in a wide sweep. Lux and Rain are able to move out of the attacks range, but since I'm stuck from the [Post-Motion] of my Sword Skill, I was batted away.

"Ugh...gonna feel that in the morning…" I groan, getting up off the ground. The attack took out about a fifth of my health, which meant it really wasn't time to use one of my limited potions. The golem was moving and attacking faster than something of its size should be capable of, but the two girls seemed to be doing well enough, mixing various Sword Skills and dodging the slow but fairly powerful attacks. Lux was unlucky and was knocked away as well. It raised an arm above its head, ready to bring it down on a stuck Rain. Without really thinking things through, I ran back into the fight. As it began to bring the limb down, I planted my left foot in front of me, wound up, and did a golf swing with my large sword. The two attacks made contact, the arm shot back up into the air. "Get parried, bitch!" Since our opponent was staggered, I used [Cyclone], and it seemed to do extra damage even though I wasn't criting. "Switch!" Rain leapt over me and used [Slant] in midair. Lux reentered the picture with a sword skill that's slowly becoming her signature, [Rage Spike]. Seeing as how I didn't have time for the high damage [Cleave], I used [Cascade] to keep it in the stun lock. To my surprise, the [Wood Golem] shattered, opening the loot window in front of each of us. "Oh...Who else wasn't paying attention to its health bar?" Neither person in my company said anything, and I couldn't help but hang my head. "Just me then...Of course."

"You need to pay more attention. Something like that can kill you." Lux huffs, looking at the archway that was on the other side of the room. "Now we-" She was cut off by the stone slowly moving out of it, revealing the next chamber to us.

"How much do you want to bet Kirito and Silica have been waiting on us for a while?" I ask, groaning a bit as I stretch.

" _Stavka prisoski_." Rain said. I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head.

"Sucker's bet." Lux translates.

"Ah. Yeah, I know. Was hoping Lux would take the bait like she does with Argo." Lux's face contorts into this strange combination of anger and embarrassment.

"S-Shut up!"

"Hehehe…" Rain giggles. "You two get along like siblings."

"Talking from experience?" I ask.

"I have a younger sister. I haven't seen her in a long time though." She answers, losing the usual cheer that she had.

"I'm sure you'll see her again." I say, putting a my right hand on her shoulder. "And we can talk more about this later, if you want, but I don't think those two would appreciate us keeping them waiting."

"Kiilll…" Lux says slowly, a dangerous glint in her eye.

"I might take you up on that." Rain say, smiling brightly. "Are we ready?"

"Let's go!" Lux cheers. Inside the newly opened arena was a kobold wearing armor on its chest, forearms, and shins called a [Kobold Warrior]. Like the last enemy we fought, it was significantly larger than what you'd expect it to be for a mob with only one health bar. "Huh...That's kind of disappointing compared to the last one."

"Doesn't mean it won't be any less of a problem." I comment, sword ready to block. The [Kobold Warrior] dashed at us, mace raised and ready to strike. Instead of just bringing the weapon down to strike, it jumped high into the air. "Oh, come on…"

"Now is not the time!" Rain yells as the three of us rolled out of the way. I lash out at the grounded monster with a [Cascade] so that I could land the hit before it could move out of the way.

"Okay, it's changing out power for speed this time around. Lovely."

"Is that gonna be your thing, complaining all day today, D?" Lux asks, blocking a horizontal swing of the weapon before responding with a [Horizontal] of her own. Rain got in a position behind it and to the right, and I got what she was trying to do. I moved to my right a bit so that we had it pinned between us three. Given the ranges of our weapons, it didn't really have the room to do any fancy maneuvers, and every time it tried to jump, we caught it with either [Vertical] or [Cascade] to bring it down to earth quickly. Thankfully this one didn't take nearly as long to kill, but we did kind of remove what was probably the most difficult part of this one.

"Ah, the wonders of stun locks..." I sigh contently.

"Where'd you pick that one up from?" Lux ask curiously.

"Hack and slash games, as well as a fighting game I picked up one time."

"Fair enough." She shrugs. "Door's not opening, which means we probably beat them to it this time."

"That gives us time to catch our breath." Rain states. "D, are you not going to use a healing potion?"

"Like I said earlier, I'm limited on those, so I figured that I'd save them for when I can make full use of the amount they'll heal."

"Here." Lux says, shoving a potion into my hands. "Unlike you, I make sure to have as many as I can."

"Thanks, Lux." I say, sipping on the red liquid. "You'd think that Kayaba would make an essential item in his game NOT taste like cherry cough syrup."

"..." The two looked at me with blank expressions.

"I didn't realize, but he's right, and I don't like that." Lux whispers. The stone doorway rumbled as it opened up. On the other side was Silica and Kirito, chatting a bit, though Silica seemed like she was trying her hardest to not look him in the eye, and he seemed to be responding in kind.

" _Privyet_. How did it go for you?"

"It when fine. There were a few hiccups with the last one, but nothing terrible." Kirito answers.

"Then why can't you two look at each other?" Lux asks, a smirk growing on her face.

"...Stupid plant monster... " Silica mumbles.

"Silica, what happened?" I ask, taking a knee to get eye level with her.

"When we were fighting, it hit me, and I crashed into Kirito. Then he...he…He grabbed my butt!" I turned my head very slowly at the black themed guy that was with us, leveled a glare, and reached to draw my sword from my back.

"Kirito…"

"It was an accident, I swear! I was just trying to make sure she didn't hit the ground too!"

"Klein would love seeing this!" Lux laughs. "You are never going to live this down!"

"At this point I'm just accepting my role and moving on." I feel like someone would've said something if it wasn't for the sounds of muffled thumping coming from deeper into the chamber we were standing in. "That...does not sound like a good time…"

"It's most likely the dungeon boss." Kirito said, drawing his [Anneal Blade]. Through the wall at the other side burst a large boar with three health bars called [Wild Charger]. It had yellow fur instead of the blue that this floor's boars had, and that fur had black streaks like thunderbolts running across it. Aside from that, it seemed to have some form of armor protecting important areas like the legs and the nape of its neck. "Silica, you and D will be our distractions. Focus on parrying and creating switch opportunities. Rain, Lux and I will focus on dealing damage."

"He just wants the last hit, doesn't he?" I ask Silica in a whisper.

"That's how he treated the last two. He said that since I had a dagger, and didn't do much raw damage, that I'd be better making openings."

"You are pretty quick with that thing, and it makes sense for me too. I've got a slow weapon, even if I upgraded the swing speed on this thing, and that really locks me into the role of a tank. We'll just have to get our hits in to prove him wrong."

"Let's do it." Silica nods. I looked back at what I was meant to be tanking and saw the cursor was a shade of red that was kind of pale.

"What shade of red do you see that as?" I ask the girl.

"It's pretty dark, but not the pure red that the guide talks about."

"It's pretty pink for me." Lux comments from right behind me, making me jump.

"It's pink for me too, so don't worry. We can beat this easily." Kirito adds.

"Okay, let's see what you got, piggy." I mutter, sword ready to block any possible attack as I walked forward. It was idly walking around, but turned sharply as soon as I entered its agro range. The boss let out whatever the boar equivalent of a roar and ran at me. The tusks slammed into the flat of my sword, and I could feel my feet slide against the floor. Once it came to a stop, the three attackers began their assault, busting out a series of sword skills to do damage. [Wild Charger] reared up on its hind legs, but Silica parried the downward slam. I used [Cleave] to take out a quarter of the second health bar, seeing how our first wave of attacks absolutely deleted the first. Silica also lashed out with a sword skill, and I hit with another [Cleave], making so that us two distractions took out most of the second bar. Silica seemed to get a little greedy and went for another lunge, but I had to reach out and pull her away by the back of her shirt as it suddenly dashed forward. The attack took a third of my health bar, but it did leave an opening for the three attackers that left the boss with just under half its final health bar. Rain stood beside me, stuck in the aftermath of her lunging [Horizontal]. "Ready to finish this?"

"Of course." She replies with a smirk. I ran forward, crouching a bit to steady myself for the oncoming attack. I bumped my blade up to parry, then unleashed a [Cyclone].

"Switch!" I call out, and Rain moved in front of me and used [Uppercut], finishing the boss. "Nice!" I say, raising a hand for a high five. Rain had to jump, but she managed to slap mine. "What'd you get?"

"I got two drops. One was the end of the dungeon drop, and the other is the last attack bonus." She equipped both of them, and boy was I surprised. Over her white shirt was a black vest made of leather with brass buttons and thread decorating it, and on her head was the headband for a maid outfit. "How does it look?"

"Great. It really suits you."

"You two can stop flirting any time now!" Lux yells, hands cupped around her mouth. I could feel my face burn and went to the window that had opened up. Besides from the usual drops from mobs, as well as some materials, I had something called [Bullrush Axe]. Equipping the weapon revealed a single bladed battle axe that looked like a oversized wood axe, but with a black edge. I looked around to see what the others got for their clear bonus, and saw Lux pulling on a red sleeveless coat that reached her thighs, Kirito got a pair of boots that were, of course, black.

"Hey, Silica, how come you aren't putting on what you got like the rest of us?" I ask her.

"It's um...a skirt…"

"Fair enough. You know what this deserves? Stew." I say, sitting down and started setting up. I got a little fire going so I could reheat my creation and set the pot above the flame.

"It smells good. Have you experimented with the recipe customization yet?" Kirito asks, sitting down around the fire.

"Yeah. I found some peppers and an herb that tastes like oregano that I threw in here. I turned the pepper into a powder so that it wouldn't be too overwhelming of a flavor."

"I have to agree. It smells _vkusnyye_." Rain states, also sitting down. Silica and Lux also sat down, though Lux seemed hesitant to do so.

"Finally getting tired of that nasty black bread?" I chuckle, getting some bowls and silverware out of my inventory. "I did get some real bread, too, so that we aren't wasting any of the broth."

"You've thought today out, didn't you?" Silica laughs.

"I had a lot of time on my hands after you went to bed, Silica. I even made sure to get extra ingredients in case this wasn't enough for us and I had to make more." I ladled the meal into bowls and passed them around, eager to hear their reaction. I waited for everyone to take their first bites before beginning on my own bowl. The taste wasn't as good as I would have liked it to be, but with how limited the ingredients are on this floor, I made due with what I had, and it turned out to be pretty nice. "How is it?" Lux answers by putting more food into her mouth.

"You didn't use much, but it works well. It's clear you're pretty high in your cooking skill for this floor."

"Kirito, I think you may have put a little too much time into the beta." I chuckle. "As soon as I found out there was baking recipes, I've been working hard on it." I turned my head and saw that Rain's face was red and she was sweating a little. "Did I make it too spicy for you?"

"A little."

"It does have a bit of heat to it." Silica agrees.

"Sorry. I put in the same amount of powder I would IRL, but it seems like it was a little stronger here." We finished the pot, and I made a second, significantly less spicy version that everyone was happy with.

"D...I didn't leave room for the cookies…" Silica groans, holding her stomach.

"That's what happens when you have three bowls." Rain comments.

"Here." I hand Kirito a dozen of the sugar cookies. "For you later, as well as whoever you end up doing things with. They should be fine in your inventory, and are good for a few days outside it."

"Thanks. I'll make sure Klein gets one."

"Cool. Well, isn't there supposed to be an item you need to grab for that quest of yours?" I ask.

"That is the whole reason we're here." Lux adds. "Well, why they're here. I'm here for the fun."

"Do you just want to go with him for a few days, because I don't know if you're actually gonna be able to relax and take a few days off."

"That is relaxing for me." Lux replies with, rather bluntly.

"Yeah, I kind of picked up on that." I respond.

"Looks like you have your back covered Kirito." Lux comments, chucking to herself.

"Uh, thanks. The help is appreciated." He says, rubbing the back of his neck. Kirito stood up and walked into the chamber after a few minutes, a menu popped up in front of all of us. It gave us as labelled a key item by the name of [Tusk of the Great One]. It looks like a simple ivory tusk, but it clearly has some importance.

"Great. Now I've just got to wait until floor...five before I can continue this quest chain." Kirito says with a sigh, looking at something, most likely his quest log.

"That might be a while." Rain says absentmindedly.

"What is this chain even supposed to be for, anyway?" I ask

"According to the quest lore, for a powerful weapon that was made before this castle was in the sky. By the sounds of it, it is probably going to be a long one." He explains.

"Ah...those are always a pain. Almost as bad as escort quests." Lux mentions, staring at me dead in the eyes.

"One. Fucking. Time. Let it go."

"Let it go~! Let it go~!" Silica sang as soon as I finished my sentence.

"One time too many...Also, why'd you have to go and get the kid singing…"

"I didn't try to get her singing." I huff.

"Wait, if you go traveling with mister Kirito, doesn't that mean there will be room in the inn for D to sleep on his bed finally?" Silica questions no one in particular.

"Yes! Not the floor!" I cheer.

"Just no sneaking into the girls' room." Lux says with a smirk.

"Why would I do that? Seriously, I don't have a death wish."

"You can't die in safe zones though."

"It's a figure of speech, Kirito!" I yell, looking him in the eye. "Figure of speech, man."

"So was it a figure of speech when you were flirting earlier?" Lux jokes.

"Nope." I replied honestly, popping the "p".

"Every party needs a pooper so that's why we invited you...party pooper~" Lux sings.

"No, Lux. No." Kirito says, face palming.

"I know it's a dumb reference, but it's a reference to something great." I defend, even if the the reference was at my expense.

"Shall we start heading back?" Rain suggests.

"That sounds good. I could use a bath." Silica answers, giving Kirito a dirty look.

"Why would...oooh." Lux starts before realising why.

"A bath sounds nice." Rain says agreeing with Silica.

"Um...Since I'm probably gonna take a walk around town for a while, one of you can use my room's. Just...send me a message when it's safe." I say, much more quietly than I had meant.

"You're really trying to get one of them naked in your room, aren't you?"

"I hate this so much, but I know I deserve it." I pout, hanging my head at Lux's comment.

"Anyway, ignoring that...let's head back. I need a bath as well." Lux says, stretching.

"So much for a midday nap in a bed then. Maybe I can find a tree." I mutter.

"Ask Kirito. Maybe he will know a spot or two?"

"Knowing my luck, Argo made it so he can't say. And I can probably find something to do. There's got to be some other non-combat skill besides cooking I can pick up." Kirito turned his head towards the ceiling and started to whistle. "See!?"

"Cop out." Lux comments. "How much?"

"The Argo Amount™." He replied, gaining a slightly depressed look.

"How much?" Lux asks again, this time sighing in annoyance.

"Oh! Look at the time! There's a time specific quest I found that I want to do!" He then bolts out of the room for dear life.

"Get back here!" Lux shouts, giving chase.

"And she's gone." I say in a deadpan tone.

"Peace and quiet at last?" Silica asks jokingly.

"Hopefully." I reply. "Though I doubt this is anywhere near the end of these two going at it."

"Shall we just head back?" Rain asks.

"I have no objections." I say. The walk to Tolbana was uneventful, with conversation being short and very spaced out. As much as I would've liked to talk, I was trying to come up with ideas for what I could possibly do. I had one last skill slot to fill, with the other three taken up by [Two-Handed Axe], [Cooking], and [Battle Healing]. The change to axes was something I've been mulling over for a bit, and now I had a perfect opportunity.

"We're in town. What are you thinking about?" Silica asks.

"Oh...Uh...Just trying to figure out what to equip for my last skill slot."

"Why not get a productive skill, like blacksmithing or something?"

"I was thinking about that, but there's so many options in this game, I'm finding it hard to choose. Blacksmithing sounds good, but I also know that me and RNGesus don't exactly see eye to eye."

"RN….?" Silica starts but stops, confusion clear on her face.

"Luck. The gaming version of luck." I explain.

"Oh…"

"It really is oddly quiet without Lux around…" Rain comments about the eerie silence.

"It becomes welcome when you've known her for years." The two soon split away to go take their baths. "Why can't I hold a conversation?" I ask myself as I begin to look around.

"Oh hey, D. Ya all alone?" A familiar cloaked annoyance calls out.

"10 Cor." I replied.

"Ya catch on quick." She says actually opening a trade to send over the Cor.

"Huh. Didn't think being a smartass would work." I comment, accepting the trade. "Yeah, I'm alone. Silica and Rain went to take baths and Lux was chasing after Kirito after we found out you paid him to not tell people about good napping spots and he ran like a bat out of hell."

"I see...Got any juicy info I might like?" She asks with her grin, as always.

"Gonna try to screw me on the price of it?"

"I pay what it's worth."

"So you say. Well, the five of us went and cleared that dungeon you two found."

"Already knew about that." Argo says bluntly. "C'mon, give me some really juicy info."

"Did Kirito tell you about how he grabbed Silica's ass?" I felt a wicked smile form on my face, something that probably never would have happened on the outside.

"Two thousand Cor. Also, no. Furthermore...any other bits of info like this?"

"Nothing like that. Rain was looking at one of the drops she got with nostalgia, but nothing as funny as seeing the aftermath of that. Someone as cool and collected as him freaking out like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar is pretty amusing."

"Heh, four thousand. Sound good?"

"Probably the best I'm gonna get, at any rate."

"It's actually worth five." Argo says with a smirk as she sends over the Cor.

"A thousand difference isn't that bad, and honestly, I have more things on my mind than squeezing everything I can from someone."

"What's on your mind? Tell Big Sis Argo."

"And sell my kidney for your response? No thanks."

"I'm actually asking. Not gonna charge ya for a response…this time." I sigh, shaking my head.

"I'm trying to figure out a skill to fill my last slot with. I'd like to get one that won't help just me, but all those options seem to either need complete dedication to that one skill, or luck is a major component to some of the more important parts of it."

"Why not try them out and see which one works for ya?" She suggests, whilst looking at he menu.

"Because I've already seen one useful skill of mine get reset from that kind of experimentation, and if I pick one I like first and then move on with others, I'd be right back at square one."

"If you're just testing them out, ya should get that far into levelling it, no?"

"You'd uh...you'd be surprised by how deep I get into crafting classes. When I first tried out the cooking skill...I was at it for a while before I decided I actually liked it. Oh, and the sandwich monster. According to Lux, apparently I managed to break the game's code on my first attempt at that."

"A sandwich monster…Shut up and take my money…" Argo says with a depressed sigh, giving me twenty thousand Cor. "How do you even break the game like that?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't have done it in the first place. After many a video game, I've come to learn that RNGesus hates me, and will go out of his way to screw me over in some way, shape, or form. For all I know, He was using Kayaba as a conduit to fuck with me."

"...How…?" Argo mutters, seemingly broken.

"I wish I knew. I really do."

"At the very least...Ah, I have to go. Got a meeting with someone." Argo says hurriedly before running off not even giving me the time to say bye.

"Note to self: You may now have a weapon to get rid of Argo...for the time being…" With that one source of information gone, I blindly walk through town, hoping that something caught my attention. During this I got a message from the girls saying they were done, but I still wanted to look around the market a bit longer. That's when I got a glimpse of inspiration from a stall selling solely leather gear. "I've got it." I made my way to the stall and ended up getting everything I needed for the [Tailoring] skill, as well as material to work on it. Not what I thought I would be using here, yet this is the hand I was dealt.

" _Privyet_ , D. Here you are...I thought something was up when you didn't respond." Rain calls out form behind me.

"Oh. Sorry if I worried you. I was lost in my own head for a while."

"Oh don't worry...So...What are you up to?" She asks, hands behind her back.

"Just got some stuff for [Tailoring]. With most of our group being fairly mobile, things like leather armor and the like will probably be really helpful, and the only armor-only skills are for metal armors." I paused, thinking for a moment. "Lux is going to give me so much shit for this."

"Why would she? It is a useful skill to have, no?"

"Because I just doubled down on the mom thing again."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I know that, but things tend to go out the window in the heat of the moment." I couldn't keep myself from stretching and yawning. "I'm sorry, Rain. I enjoy talking with you, but I didn't really sleep well."

"It's okay. Silica and I were planning on getting to know each other as roommates anyway. Enjoy your nap."

"Thanks." We walked back to the inn in comfortable silence and went into our respective rooms. Once inside, I locked the door, changed into the pair of shorts I used as pajamas, and flopped onto the bed. "Time for a well deserved rest." I closed my eyes, and when I woke up, the sun had gone down. "...Fuck…That was not a nap like I wanted."

"Stress does that." A familiar voice said from the doorway.

"Klein? How? I locked the door."

"I saw Silica and your new friend there downstairs, and asked them to add me to your party for a bit. Inn rooms can be opened by party members."

"...I...am the dumb…"

"You said it, not me." Klein chuckles.

"What brings you around?"

"Lux thought you needed someone to keep you out of trouble."

"I didn't plan on leaving town anytime soon, and as far as I'm aware, neither are the others."

"Yeah, that's why she sent me."

"I make a fool of myself one time, and she thinks I'm gonna creep all over her." I grumble, crossing my arms.

"Does that have a story?"

"Klein. Buddy. Friend. I'm already getting my karma from Lux about earlier this week. I don't need any more."

"Oh, I already knew the story, just wanted to see if I could get it from you."

"...She sold it to Argo...When I get my hands on her…"

"They're waiting for you, down in the dining area." Klein stood up and began to walk out. "I've got to get back to my friends. I told them I'd meet them in the plaza in a few."

"Hey, when you see Kirito, call him Sugar Daddy. He'll know what's going on." Klein didn't look too thrilled, but shrugged and left. "Wait...He must've seen...Ah, whatever. He didn't ask." Not awake enough to care about much, I put on a shirt and walked down the stairs. After a bit of looking, I sat down at the table the two girls were sitting at. "Hey."

"About time." Silica teases. "When Rain said you were going to take a nap, I thought we'd talk for a few hours and then we would all meet up to do something."

"I didn't think I'd be sleep this long either. Have fun talking? Did Silica ever bring up the fact that she spoons in her sleep?"

"Yes, we talked about that, and we did have fun." Rain answers. A waitress came by and asked me what I would like. After ordering some chicken and veggies and a water, the NPC left to get my food.

"Anything else exciting happen?" I asked. "I can't imagine that you sat in the room for...nine hours."

"Oh! There was that guy that was following us when we decided to explore." Silica answers.

"Following you?"

"He was hiding behind corners, and every time I caught him, he was looking at me." Rain elaborated. The door to the inn creaked open, and a man in a cloak crept in, crouching as he moved. Rain was sat so her back was to the door, and he was staring directly at her.

"Was he wearing a black cloak that hangs over his face?"

"Yes. How do you-"

"Don't turn around. Keep acting like everything is normal. He just came in the door. If we give him an excuse without confrontation, he'll probably leave." I say in a hushed tone, making sure that our stalker friend couldn't hear us. Silica started smiling in an unsettling way before leaning over to whisper in Rain's ear.

"S-Silica!" Rain nearly screamed, turning an atomic shade of red. "I can't do that!" The yell became hushed, but still held the same amount of emotion.

"What?" She asked innocently. "If he thought you had a boyfriend, he'd leave you alone." Wait...Rain's reaction and the way she's trying not to look at me, Silica's snickering...She didn't…

"I don't think that's a good idea. I don't know if that would even work, or if it would put a target on D's back."

"Just ignore him for now. If he comes over we can act according to how he acts." I say whilst keeping an eye on the guy out of the corner of my vision. After a few minutes the man starts walking towards us before turning towards a nearby table. "I can see why you two were uncomfortable. He gives off some real freaky vibes."

"Are you scared of him?" Silica asks, teasing me a bit. He sat down at an empty table in the corner of the room, and I saw while I was stretching that he could see us perfectly.

"No, just...put on edge. Like I know someone is after me." I answer, wanting to get my axe in hand. "Can you two head to bed first? I'd feel better if I could see if this guy tries to follow you up."

"Okay. Be safe." Rain said, standing up. I waited ten minutes, keeping a subtle watch over whoever went upstairs, to see if our cloaked friend would act.

"If he wanted to do something he would've done it by now." The vibes I felt got stronger as a hand placed itself on my shoulder.

"Of course I would have." I deep, gravelly voice said. "You should stay away from her."

"Funny. I was thinking of saying the same thing to you. From what I can tell, she actually appreciates my company." Ah, nothing like being a smarmy to deflect. If a verbal joust will get this guy off Rain's back, then so be it.

"...You have been warned…" Cloak said, walking bold as brass out of the building. What the hell is with this guy? I shook my head, and went to my room. The clock said that it was ten P.M., and that meant it was time for bed.

And finished...Finally, you and your want for long chapters... **Yes, I like my chapters to be longer, but this...This was unexpected. And can't complain, I did most of it myself.** Oh shush you. **Fine, fine, be that way. I'm just glad I'm finally gonna be able to put it out.** Very well...bye for now. **Peace!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, we're back!** Yaaaay... **What's with that reaction?** Nothing, don't worry 'bout it. **Whatever you say.** Let's just get this show on the road. **Sure.**

The sun rose to wake me up, as it always did, and I struggled out of bed. My menu showed that I had a message from Rain and Lux.

[Are you okay? What happened last night? -Rain]

[Yeah, I'm fine. Just got my life threatened. Nothing important. -D] I switched to see what Lux wrote before Rain replied.

[Hey, I heard you had to defend your girlfriend's honor. -Lux]

[She's not my girlfriend...but yes…-D]

[What do you mean your life was threatened!? -Rain and Silica] Oh boy...this is gonna be a thing.

[Argo says otherwise. -Lux]

[Well, as far as I'm aware, I'm as single as can be. I'm kinda scared knowing that I'm being shipped. -D]

[It's Argo don't worryyyyyyy]

[Lux? What happen?] I'd continue to focus on this conversation, but Rain and Silica burst through the door. "Okay! Ground rules! It doesn't matter if the party can just walk into the others' rooms, we knock!" I yelled, very much startled.

"Do you think that matters right now!?" Silica asks me, face unnaturally serious.

"Seeing as how I JUST woke up? Yes. Anyway, basically he said to leave whichever one of you he's stalking alone, I countered him by turning his phrase against him, and then he dropped one of those cliche ominous warnings and left." As I finish saying that I just notice that I have over fifty unread messages. "Oh, what kind of mess did Lux get herself into now?" I asked, opening the first, which was just an exclamation of pain. The next thirty or so were of a similar nature.

"What did Lux do this time?" Silica asks, her palm becoming acquainted with her face.

"Um...from the sounds of it? Falling out of a tall tree."

" _Proklyat'ye_. Why would she be in a tree?" Rain asks with a heavy sigh.

"Probably a quest with Kirito, if I had to guess."

[Apparently, she slept there for the night. -The rat.]

"How did she...Argo's outside the window, isn't she?" I asked, and the two girls nodded. I turned my head to Argo latched to the window frame smiling like a loon. "I'll open the window…" I sighed, sliding the window open.

"Nyehehe. Thank ya kindly, now then...Two thousand Cor." she says whilst landing on the floor of the inn.

"This is just like what happened last time. I'm not paying for info I never asked for from you." I growled.

"And if ya want to keep using my services you will. 'sides I'm sure you wanna hear the rest of the story, no?" She asks with her usual cheshire grin.

"I'll pay it." Rain said as I fumed.

"Excellent. That covers Lux's debt." Argo chuckles. Okay, now I'm just salty.

"So that wasn't even! I!" I hit a boiling point but then felt...calm. "Huh...So, this is what becoming so angry you come full circle is like."

"Lux was the same when her boy toy wouldn't cover her debt." Argo says absentmindedly.

"...I hope she falls even harder in that fucking tree…"

"Um, D? You, uh, didn't say that in English…" Silica whispered.

"Seems like ya have your own problems to sort out...Seeya!" Argo calls out, jumping through the window.

"Sorry about that, Rain. I'll pay you back. If anyone should take responsibility for Lux, it's me." I said, opening a trade menu. She refuses the trade while shaking her head.

"It's fine, don't worry."

"I hate when people say that. It makes me worry more." I said while opening my message menu. [Hey, thanks for getting Argo to trick us into paying your debt. -One angry boi]

[sstilllll faaaaaaallinnnnng heeeeere debttttt? Whaaaat ddddebt?]

[The 2000 that you couldn't get Kirito to pay for you.]

[and there goes half my health. Annnnyway, he did pay it for me though… -one confused gamer.]

"That bitch!" I shouted. "I swear to any god or being willing to listen, I'll get you for this!"

"What…?"

"We've been had!" I roared, getting out my axe. "According to Lux, Kirito did pay that money."

"That con artist!" Silica screams in English.

"M-Maybe we should all calm down...She must've had some reason. She has made it clear that she never does anything just because." Rain says, trying to placate us.

[I'll consider what you gave me payment and tell you this. You have been had, but not by me though. -the rat.]

"...You know, I'd laugh right now, but that's being overshadowed by all this UNYIELDING RAGE!" I shout as loudly as I could.

[Um...what did lux do this time? -Klein]

[YES!]

[...Okay then. Have a nice day.]

[D...Why are you yelling? -Kirito]

[BECAUSE YOUR GIRLFRIEND GOT ARGO TO CON US OUT OF TWO GRAND!]

[S-She's not my girlfriend!]

[I think you ruptured an eardrum. -the true con artist.]

[You're going to wish that that's the worse thing that'll happen the next time I see you.]

[Please refrain from yelling to that degree. You have triggered mobs that normally would not normally be active. -Administration]

'Whelp...I did a thing. The admin is mad at me for aggroing every mob on the floor, I threatened Lux with maiming, and everyone else that messages me is very confused." I say, brushing off my hands. "I think this game is getting to me."

"What!?" Silica yells, hands over her ears. "I can't hear anything!"

"What did you say!?" Rain asks in turn. Just then, Klein barges into the room.

"But seriously, what the hell did she do?" He asks,seriously worried.

"She got Argo to scam us for her." I grumbled.

"Oh yeah...We we're talking about that earlier. We took bets on your reaction. Looks like I'm 50 Cor down."

"Hehehe...You what?" I ask, raising my axe.

"You know you can't hurt me in a safe zone...right?"

"That'll make what I want to do all the more therapeutic." I took a step towards him.

"Woah woah woah! Uh look, I uh...it was Lux's idea. I just went along with it because I thought it'd be fun."

"*sigh*...Alright, just...I need a breather...Maybe a therapist...again…"

[Big Sis Argo is always here to listen. -Argo.]

[I might just have to take you up on that later. -D]

"I'll hold you to that." Argo says, her head poking up from the windowsill before disappearing again.

"Maybe it WAS a good idea for us to take today off." Rain muses, hand on her chin.

[i don't think angering admins counts as a day off. - Lux/Argo.]

"No...Don't send a message through Argo...No more money should be spent today, unless it's for relaxation purposes." 'That's right, keep yourself calm. No more insanity for today. You used up your quota.' Okay brain, that's rude, but true.

"On a different note, what are you three doing today?" Klein asks.

"Before she left, Lux suggested that we talk to get to know each other better." Silica says. "Maybe we can start there?"

"Yeah, you should really do that." Klein says with a smile. "That's the only way a team is going to work together well. I'm lucky my party is full of the guys from back home. I'll leave you to it. Have fun." Klein left as swiftly as he entered, leaving the three of us in an awkward silence.

"...Do we want to move to a cafe or something?" I ask, trying to break the tension.

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Rain says with a smile. There was, according to the rumor mill, a nice little place that has a good amount of privacy from table to table on the other side of Tolbana, so I led us there. The booth had wood panels separating them from the booths besides it, and even had this sliding panel. "Interesting choice."

"Knowing that a certain rat could be lurking around any corner, having some form of privacy is enough to put my mind at ease enough to talk freely."

"Paranoid much?" Silica giggled.

"After last night and this morning? Absolutely."

"This morning? What else happened this morning that we don't know about?" Oh Silica, why'd you have to ask?

"It's uh...It's kind of uncomfortable to talk about…"

"We aren't going to judge you for anything. _Ya obeshchayu_." Rain adds.

"Um...well…" Ugh...I can feel my face getting redder and redder. "It turns out that...Argo ships us…"

"What's shipping?" Due to the water the hostess had left us after we were seated, I was currently covered in water from Silica's spit take.

"...Thanks Silica…"

"I'm sorry! It's just...It's so funny! I know what shipping is, and I'm twelve!"

"Shipping is when someone believes that the two people they 'ship' should be in a relationship." I explained. After seeing Rain become as red as her shirt, I continued. "Of course, they don't have to! That's not how it works! Haha...ha…" Oh god, I'm bad at this.

"Is dating me such a bad thing to you?" Rain asks in a tone I'm not sure how to describe.

"No. No! Of course I would date you! It's just...we've only known each other for a few days, and that's definitely not enough time to form any kind of relationship outside of something vain. I wouldn't want to do that to anyone, let alone someone I know and care about."

"Hahaha!" Okay, I wasn't expecting laughter from Rain. " _V zaklyucheniye_! A guy who gets it!"

"Can you explain?" Silica asks, confusion making her face scrunch.

"I work at a maid cafe part time, and boys are always asking me out by the time they go to leave."

"The headband makes so much more sense now." I mutter, looking at the accessory that is still on even though she was wearing casual clothes.

"I like that you're always wearing it! It's cute. What do you think, D?"

"Uuuhh…"

"Stop teasing, him, Silica. We're supposed to spend the day together, no?"

"Fine, spoil my fun. Do you do anything special in the real world?"

"No, and not because I don't want to. There's some...circumstances that keep me from doing anything, and I've figured that maybe I shouldn't share it so easily."

"Is it about your leg?"

"Silica, I'm going to ask this nicely, okay? Where did you hear about that?"

"L-Lux rambles when she's tired, and when I asked about you when we shared a room…"

"Of course it would come up. Ah well. Looks like the cat's out of the bag. My right leg might as well not be there, so there isn't much I can do. Honestly, since I moved here to Japan, I've been thinking that I could teach English. Who better than a native, right?"

"That's the spirit!"

"Argo! How do you keep doing that!?" I...yelled in a not-so-masculine way.

"A girl needs her secrets." The informant giggles. "Ya know it's not really gamer etiquette to talk about real life."

"If we don't know what each other is like in life, then how can we know what we'll be like in here, where how we really are can be hidden easily by a facade?" I counter.

"Settle down, old man."

"Looks like you're Si-chan's punching bag today."

"Si-chan?" Rain asks, humming. "That's different. I like it."

"I've never had a nickname before." Silica agrees, nodding her head.

"Well, I'll get goin'. Don't want to interrupt ya."

"You can stay if you want, Argo. Everyone needs a day off every once in a while."

"Sorry, but no can do. Gotta keep the freshies from getting themselves killed."

"By raking them over the coals?" I ask, laughing a bit.

"Of course. Wouldn't be me otherwise." With her signature cat-like laugh the informant left.

"Um...I have a cat." Silica says, getting the conversation back to where it was supposed to be.

"Cool. What's her name?" I ask.

"Pina. She used to get into the jar of peanut butter anytime someone would open it." Silica laughs, and we laugh with her.

"I'm glad to know doing goofy things like that is a general cat thing, and not just mine." I comment.

"That makes me feel good about mother's choice to get a dog." Rain adds.

"Dogs are nice, but the rumble I feel when my cat is laying on my chest is too nice." I counter.

"But you can't play with a cat outside, or have that security dogs can give."

"...We're not going to agree on anything regarding our chosen pets, so let's move on, shall we?"

"This isn't over." Rain huffs. The waitress came and gave us all some tea cups and a fancy porcelain kettle. Something seemed to change in Rain, and with a smoothness that could only come from practice, the girl poured us each a cup of the light brown fluid. She quickly seemed to realize what happened and turned from us bashfully. "Hehe...force of habit." Since I'm not the biggest fan of tea, I opted to read my book and let the girls enjoy their drinks. Too bad that was ruined once I hit a part of the novel that was eerily familiar.

"That's quite the scowl." Rain states.

"This book is just a cheap knock off of a book from the outside that I'm a big fan of."

"Have some tea." Silica suggests, pushing the cooling cup closer towards me. Lifting the cup to my lips resulted in a strange bitter flavor filling my mouth. "I get the feeling you don't like it."

"No." I reply, shaking my head and closing my eyes tightly. "No I don't."

"Oh hey, you guys actually are bonding!" Lux of all people says.

"...What do you want?" I grumble.

"Uh...Well ain't this lively…" Lux mumbles to herself. "Sooo, what'd I miss, well other then D's rage breaking."

"Well, I found out you told Silica something I'd rather tell people myself in your sleep deprived state." I start. "Then Argo gave Silica a nickname."

"Huh...Neat...Can't stay for long. Only came back to stock up on potions. Also, Kirito says hi." She says as if just remembering.

"Then why are you here at a cafe?" Silica asks.

"Argo." She responds with in a matter of fact tone.

"Of course." We say in unison.

"Oh, we did talk about shipping!"

"Silica, no! Don't pull the pin on that grenade!" shout, but had the feeling that it was already too late.

"Going to stay out of this one. Don't want to step on any landmines." Lux says...almost maturely.

"Who are you and what have you done with Lux? The Lux I know isn't this mature." I say, laughing slightly.

"I'm a tired Lux…" She says, yawning. "Haven't slept since...when did I go with Kirito?"

"Yesterday." Rain answers. "And Argo said you were asleep in a tree at some point."

"Oh, that. I actually managed to fool her with that. Shook her off. Too tired to deal with the rat."

"But tired enough to get her to take money from us? I don't mean to burst your bubble, but D wasn't the one who paid." Silica says.

"Huh...Who did then?"

"I did." Rain answers, waving a hand. Lux just sighs and gives Rain the Cor she paid Argo to her. "Thank you."

"Next time, let D take the fall, K?" Lux asks, letting out another long sigh

"I would appreciate it if there wasn't a next time. This is not the time for petty pranks. Not while our lives are on the line." The Russian girl explained.

"Uh, sure...fine...Ugh, you sound like my papa…" Lux says lethargically.

"Wait, if D's the team mom, does this mean Rain is the team dad?" Silica asks innocently.

"And you're the little sister!" Lux cheers, suddenly perking up and hugs Silica.

"Kirito's that weird uncle that no one knows what to do with when they're around." I chuckle.

"That's not nice…" Lux mutters, separating from Silica. "Ah! The time! Uh, I've gotta go." Lux says in a panic before rushing off.

"I'd like to point out that even if she said it was mean, she never said I was wrong." I comment, holding up an index finger.

"So I'm the little sister?" Silica asks, her head tilting.

"Rain, I'll leave that to you. I don't have siblings." I say, raising my hands in surrender.

"But your the team mom aren't you?" She says with a smirk.

"That would only be a fair point if she were to have been the group's kid."

"Since you two love birds can't decide, I'll do it for ya." Argo says standing up from a table. "Yes Silica, out of the group, you are the the little sister. Not that it's a bad thing. It suits ya." Argo explains. Her catlike grin still everpresent.

"W-We aren't…"

"Argo, we agreed that it isn't like that. Not now, at least." I explain calmly, seeing as how my very red friend didn't seem able to.

"Two hundred thousand Cor." She just says in response, straight faced, before turning her attention back to the now starry eyed Silica.

"For what!?" I ask, baffled.

"This time, it actually is Lux's debt…"

"I'm not saying your a liar, but let me check." I message Lux, asking about the debt.

[Hm? Oh yea. Care to pay that off for me please?]

[And why should I, after the stunt you pulled today?]

[Otherwise argo will ruin our lives...I'm not joking.]

"So confirmed with her, D?" She asks, smirking.

"Unfortunately…" I open the trade menu and give the saleswoman the money. "I will be taking my pound of flesh out of her later for this, though."

"Touch my client and I will ruin you." Argo says, her face strangely serious.

"Am I gonna have to explain figures of speech again? I really hope not, and it's not like she isn't making my life hell in the process. Why would you even sell her anything of she can't pay for it?"

"The national bank of D, Was her explanation."

"I once again wonder why I'm friends with her."

"Don't let it get to you, okay?" Rain says, reaching over the table and patting my shoulder.

"I just want to know what happened. After her talk with Klein, things were better. She was talking to me and treating me like she would before all this, but now it's like someone turned back the clock."

"Oh! Oh! I know the answer!" Argo cheers, hopping up and down with her hand raised.

"And what, pray tell, is that answer going to cost me?"

"Don't worry, let big sis Argo share with you a story…" She says, chuckling. "To make a really long story short...According to my sources, Lux likes the man clad in black." She says.

"So, something we already know?" Silica asks rhetorically.

"Kirito...I don't know if he's gonna be a good influence for her...they're both gaming nuts, and Kirito doesn't person as well as you'd think...I trust him though, so there's that." She says, a faint normal smile on her face.

"I could tell that when he was first teaching me, Lux, and Klein about sword skills. He was about as awkward with new people as I am. I really hate this, I do, but she seems to have more fun with him than with me, so if this is the cost of her happiness, well…"

"What we talkin' about?" Klein asks, putting an arm around my shoulder out of nowhere.

"Where is everyone coming from?" Rain asks, looking around.

"Fuck if I know. Well, Klein, we were talking about how Kirito basically reversed all that hard work you put in with that talk of yours because she likes him." Klein deflated a bit as I told him what was going on.

"Give me like...ten minutes." He says obscurely, walking off strangely.

"Is anyone else worried? Because I am." Silica says, looking out the door.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing!?" Wow, Klein is loud, though I don't think he was as loud as I was earlier. "Lux! D is nothing but kind to you, and, with the way you treat him, he may just be a saint! Yet you just sit there galavanting around with your crush while treating them like shit! And Kirito, I know you aren't the greatest with people, but I thought you were enough of a good person to keep her from being awful, yet it sounds like you're encouraging it!"

"This is the Klein you've been talking about?" Rain asks, eyes wide as the probably older man continued to rant and rave at the duo.

"Huh...I didn't think he had that kind of side to him. I could sell that if he makes it big." Argo muses, money signs in her eyes. The angry voice slowly faded, and when the redhead came back, he had company.

"Hey, D? Mind standing up for a second?" Klein asks with a knowing smirk.

"Sure?" I was soon embraced by an upset Lux, if my slowly wettening shirt was anything to go by.

"I'm sorry." Kirito said, bent at the waist at a ninety degree angle.

"M-Me too…" Lux says, voice muffled. "I...I shouldn't have been doing what I have been. I even lied about Argo shipping you and Rain to tease you."

"What are ya talkin' 'bout? 'Course I do." Argo laughs. "They flirt without even trying! It's great!"

"Hey Klein…" I say, equipping my axe. "Take this and put me out of my misery."

"Nah, I kinda like seeing things from this angle." My "friend" replies. "I wish we had some way to take pictures. I didn't think people could get any redder than my hair."

"Heya, Lux? Ya gonna let go of ya friend there? I think Kii-bou might be getting jealous." Argo teases.

"It's not just me!" I cheer, raising my arms in victory.

"S-Shut up!"

"I'm not jealous, Argo." Kirito chuckles.

"Should we take this somewhere else? Clearly this booth isn't enough for our group." I suggest, sweeping an arm around.

"Sorry, but I came here to get something to eat." Argo replies.

"Argo just triggered a flag." Kirito states.

"Whaddya mean, Kirito?" Klein asks. To answer him, all I did was pull an empty pot out of my inventory. "...Oh."

"Someone find a spot. Imma do a thing." I say, leaving to go to the inn's kitchen. Due to the fact that boss monsters drop better stuff, I had a higher quality meat to work with, and getting some spices from the rare player market would make sure whatever I make would be better than normal. Once I was back at one of my favorite places, I got to work on one of my newest recipes; a roast pork tenderloin. I made a dry rub from Aincrad's versions of rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper and tossed in some cubed potatoes and carrots so they can be sides that stewed in the juices of the meat.

[How long is it gonna be? -Lux]

[An hour. I'm pulling out all the stops, so this should be really good. Maybe you can share those cookies I gave you with Klein like I said.]

[...]

[You ate them all already, didn't you?]

[...Yes. They were really good...Are you mad?]

[No, just disappointed. Good thing I've been keeping the other two dozen for when we were all together again.]

[Okay. I'll let everyone know.] I set an alarm in my menu and took a nap. When it went off, I removed the dish from the oven and stashed it in my inventory. I walked around towards a nearby hill that had a large tree shadowing it, and saw several people flagging me down.

"Hey. Got food." I announce, revealing the pain and setting it down on the blanket that someone must've set up. "I'll slice it up and we should be good."

"This is a high level recipe. How did you...?" Argo asks, staring at the meat.

"Someone has a cookie addiction, and making the problem it causes go away has been helpful."

"It's only a problem when I'm all out." Silica says in flat tone.

"That's is not a healthy habit to have, Si-chan." Rain scolds, pointing a finger lazily. "What will your parents think if you did this IRL?"

"They wouldn't like it." The young girl admitted.

"So, what are you guys going to do?" Klein asks as I slide him a plate of the meal. "I know Kirito and Lux are going to do more quests, and Argo will be Argo, but I've got nothing for you three."

"Nosy, aren't ya, old timer." I quip. "I haven't really brought it up, but I'd like to go into the dungeon for this floor."

"Oh? Ya have my attention."

"Argo, I'm not going to pay for anything. The mobs there should be comparable to the adds in the boss room, if your guide is anything to go by, and I want to see how I compare to them now. If they're too much, it's time to go back to the grind out here in the fields. Otherwise, it's spelunking time."

"You want to go into the dungeon alone." Lux states more than asks. "D, I've never taken you for an idiot. Gullible and naive at times, but never an idiot."

"It's not a very good idea." Kirito agreed.

"I didn't want to volunteer anyone for something they didn't want to do." I counter. "It's risky enough as is, going into the dungeon this soon, no matter how leveled you are. There's too many variables, and I'm not betting others' lives on my ability. Not yet." No one said anything afterwards, just silently eating the meal I made.

"There's risk you have to take, as a player and as a person." Klein started. "You may not be strong enough to take something on, but that's the point of parties, to do what you can't do alone. Trust them with your life, and they'll trust you with theirs." He says, looking at the two members of my party. "Have some faith."

"We have your back." Rain says. "Your idea is a good one...for all of us." Lux reached up and tugged on Kirito's sleeve.

"I know we have some quest you wanted to do…"

"We can go into the dungeon with them."

"There we go. That's how things should be." I could hear Klein whispering.

"Thanks everyone. Let's do this. We could all use some training together, so we can really work as a team, and if we can find the boss room, we'll be one step closer to home."

"I'll talk to my friends. Having two parties there in case a field boss is in there would be better." Klein says in his normal volume.

"Nice to see that everyone's bein' friends. Thanks for the meal, D. It was good." Argo says, standing up with a cookie in her hand. "Gotta get going though. I got a meeting that I have to go to. I'll be back later though."

"How come she's called [The Rat] when she looks more like a cat?" Silica asks once the informant left. "She even laughs like a cat girl in anime."

"Let's just say it's a nickname well earned and leave it at that." Kirito answers vaguely.

"Has anyone else picked up a skill besides D and his cooking?" Klein asks.

"I read that you can tame some monsters, and I was thinking of getting that when I can." Silica says quietly.

"Now that we're back in town, I want to start [Tailoring]." Lux says. I whistle innocently. "Why are you whistling?"

"D started working on [Tailoring] last night." Rain, why? Lux inhaled deeply before exhaling.

"...Okay. There goes that idea..."

"Hold on, Lux. Hold on. I wanted [Tailoring] for the armor aspect of it, which I'm sure you don't care for nearly as much." Lux looks me right in the eyes and glares.

"You are going to commit crimes against fashion unless someone stops you. At least I won't be bored."

"Hey, wh-?"

"Klein, she's absolutely right. My wardrobe Outside is mainly jeans and t-shirts."

"Yeah, Lux is taking [Tailoring]." Silica nods, and Rain nods with her.

"Thanks, guys. Real reassuring."

"Hey, at least you're trying." Klein says. "I've got to go though. My friends are asking to meet up and go over what happened today, and I'm gonna ask them about tomorrow."

"See you later, Klein." Kirito says, waving as he leaves. "How are we going to split the rooms? We have two now, if I remember right."

"Boys in one room, of course." Rain says, smiling.

"...This should be interesting." I mutter, taking a small glance at my new roommate. "There isn't really much to do, so why don't we go back to our rooms and get used to our new situations?" I turn to see that the girls had already left. "Well okay then."

"You should put points into [Searching]."

"I've got all my slots full, Kirito. Figured having an even balance between combat skills and crafting of some kind would be better in the long run."

"I see. That makes sense." The black clad member of our group stands up and starts walking back towards the inn.

"Life is going to be so much fun now…" I groan, packing up the mess everyone left and went "home". Kirito was in full gear when I opened the door to our room.

"Do you still use the greatsword, or did you change to the axe you got from that boss?"

"Axe, and I should probably work on that."

"There's still daylight. It'll take a while, but there's a spot nearby where we can grind your axe skill up. You'll need as many sword skills as you can for the dungeon."

"Ugh...So much for a work free day, but you have a point." I say reluctantly. Kirito stands up from the bed and leads me to the a field a ways from [Tolbana]. "I just have to use it, right? Does it really matter how?"

"Just have it equipped and use the axe. Why?"

"Because if what I read is right, greataxes like mine are meant for tanking, which isn't exactly something I have any real experience with. Sure I've blocked and parried, but I've mostly stayed on the offensive."

"Doing that would build experience for it, and I can do what I'm good at too."

"So, I block and all that for a while as you cut them down, and then I can move on to the hits once I unlock more than the few basic sword skills. That way we both can get some work in. If I have to, can I borrow a few pots?"

"Why? Did you not restock after the dungeon?"

"No, I planned on doing it tomorrow. Well, from how I've been playing, I want to prioritize parrying over blocking. It's riskier, but the opportunities it can open up in a fight could be crucial."

"That's true, but it doesn't line up with how Lux explains your experience."

"I played an old game, where PVP can pop up almost anywhere, and parries with reposts was a saving grace." I say like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"...*Sigh*...Fair enough, and the same principle DOES still apply." Kirito really put me through the ringer with this area. It was swarmed with wolves, and while it was perfect for my parry practice due to their speed, the fact that they put me on my ass more than I put them on theirs in the first two hours really says something. "Have you gotten any skills?"

"Yeah, and I think that Kayaba added in axes like these last minute in comparison to other weapons. They don't seem as detailed in their description as the skills from my greatsword."

"The game IS called Sword Art Online."

"Was that a joke? You can joke?"

"O-Of course I can! Anyway, how many?"

"Two. Besides [Whirlwind], [Cleave], and [Broad Horizontal], I've got one called [Cross] and another called [Vanguard]. [Cross] is a downwards vertical strike followed by a horizontal one. [Vanguard] seems to be the first of my dedicated tank skills. You deflect a hit to the side before slamming the head of the axe into the target."

"Hm...A two-hit skill and a counter. Interesting. Time to test them out."

"Yup." The two of us grinded well into the night, leveling the weapon skill and earning some mods, most of which were devoted to sword skill cooldown, and one that increased my agro pull. "I think that's good for now, don't you?"

"Not as much as I'd have liked to, but since we were not only grinding your skill, but getting you used to a new weapon, it's fine."

"Then to bed we go. I don't think I could go on any longer without rest of some kind." I, well, whine, wanting to go to sleep.

"Sure." It was a slow walk to the inn, because we were trying to actively avoid mobs, but it was still early in the night so it wasn't that much of a loss. With the street lamps lighting up Tolbana, I could see a cloaked figure sitting on a bench near the door of our inn. "She's here for you."

"She? Right, Argo did say she would sit down and talk with me."

"Good luck with that." Kirito chuckles, waving a hand lazily as he walks into the room.

"Heya, D. How's it goin'?" Argo asks, patting the space on the wood bench next to her.

"It...could be better, all things considered."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Well, I seriously lost my temper today, to the point that I got a message from Administration."

"Kayaba messaged you!?"

"Yeah. Apparently I managed to set off every passive mob on the floor, all over a stupid little prank…"

"That means...He…" I can't quite pick out what Argo's saying, but it sounds like she's debating with herself. "D, I need you to stay very calm. Big Sis Argo is about to tell you some bad news." She takes a deep breath. "One hundred and thirty seven people died today. That's a little over double what the daily average has been for the past week, and reports have been saying it was because normally passive mobs started attacking players."

"Wait...I…?" I look at my hands, which were trembling. "I killed all those people…"

"No you didn't. If they were smart enough, they would've known that those mobs were around in the first place."

"Lux?" I ask, looking around.

"Up here." Lux was hanging out of her window above us, smiling. "Don't worry, your girlfriend is asleep."

"She's not my girlfriend..." I argue weakly. "Wow, that came out pathetic. Maybe I should just join up with the others that are hunkering down in the Town of Beginnings. Seems like I'm just going to get more people killed."

"Sure, go on back to the town, and if our lot dies because we're missing our tank...well you know the rest." I clench my fists and turn away from her.

"She has a point, as blunt as she was. You're whole role is to keep people alive. I doubt anything like this will happen again, and I'll make sure this doesn't get to the public."

"I...thank you, Argo. That means a lot."

"So, you done crying?" Lux asks from above.

"I think I'll be alright. I'm not gonna jump or anything, that's for sure."

"Good, and just remember, you've already saved someone in this game."

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. Goodnight, Lux. Goodnight, Argo."

"'Night, D. See ya around." Argo gets up and leaves, fading into the darkness that the flame lamps can't light. Lux went back in and shut her window. I returned to my room to find that Kirito was sound asleep and taking up as little room on the bed as his body would allow. I followed his lead in order to keep from anything weird happening. Since it wasn't the most comfortable position, it took awhile for me to fall asleep.

After a month, things hadn't gotten any better for us trapped in Sword Art Online. The death toll had reach two thousand, and there's been no news about anyone finding the boss room. With Kirito as our sorta accurate guide, we were able to get a lot of tower mapped over the course of the month. Due to some rumors that I asked Argo to confirm, I went to the Town of Beginnings to check out an up and coming player blacksmith that was said to be pretty successful at their craft this early on in the game. Lux was making me, saying "you need to actually wear tank gear". After an hour of searching, I found a girl with brown hair and pink eyes sitting on a rug with a fire pit of some kind off to the side.

"Are you Lisbeth?" I ask, gaining the girl's attention. "I heard that you're one of the few player blacksmiths that are competent and was wondering if you could help me out." She looks me over a bit before shaking her head.

"Sorry, but I only make speed based weapons."

"Oh, well I guess it's a good thing I didn't come to you looking for an axe then, though I WAS hoping to get my axe upgraded."

"I can upgrade it, that's no problem. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Armor, if you can. Something protective, yet won't slow me down too much. I was told to tell you 'something for an OT', whatever that's supposed to mean."

"..." Lisbeth was quiet for a while. "I should be able to get you something." She opens up her menu and starts scrolling.

"Hey, um, if I gave you stuff from my menu, could you use those instead? I have a lot of materials cluttering my inventory, and I feel like this can help us both."

"And how does this help me?"

"How often do you get to work with drops from the dungeon?"

"You have my undivided attention." I traded her most of the mats I had gotten from our dungeon crawling. "Give me some time, and I'll have the armor ready. What do you"

"How much do I owe you?"

"Ten thousand for everything." The girl immediately went to work after I paid her, upgrading my weapon first. Now it was plus five,three sharpness and two durability. The armor she made was simple in design, consisting of a solid dark grey chestplate with matching gauntlets, grieves, and shoulder armor. "Thank you for your business."

"No, thank you, and keep the materials. You can make some gear for other people too." I didn't give her the chance to respond as I walk back to Tolbana. Once I got there and back to my room, I stuck on the new gear and moved around to get a feel for it. Our group was sat at the table, and everyone was decked out in new gear, though Lux's was the most drastic change. She had on a white cloth shirt that drops to about the bottom of her thighs with sleeves a bit longer than the whole arm and hand, a short black skirt, black leather heeled boots and black metal claws. Silica had an open red coat over her armor, Rain had a new sword that had a vine shaped gold hilt, and Kirito had gotten a simple black jacket.

"Now you look like a tank." Lux comments.

"And you look like you're ready to go shopping at the mall with your friends." I say, laughing a bit afterwards. "I'm a little bummed out, but since you are now in the speed class of weapons like Silica, I'd suggest that you two give her a visit. She specializes in speed weapons, according to her."

"Well, he did say I looked like I was going shopping. What do you say, Silica? Want to give this girl a visit?" Lux asks the smaller girl.

"Sure!"

"You're looking for a girl named Lisbeth. Pink eyes. Hard to miss." I explain, describing the noticeable traits of the blacksmith I was just at. The two got up and left for the town of beginnings. "And there they go. At least with this she's doing something at least a little normal. The way she's gotten so...obsessed...is worrying."

"Lux is probably just getting used to SAO."

"Kirito, she was getting bent out of shape when we ran into Rain because she was fighting the field boss that we were searching for."

"Fair enough."

"You got any plans, mister busy body?" 

"I don't have to tell you everything, Mom." Kirito jokes. "Argo asked me to help her investigate a rumor of a hidden logout spot in a cave. Anyone who goes there is never seen again, but Argo is suspicious."

"Huh. I can see why she'd want to look into it. Say hi for me when we meet up, would ya?"

"Sure, D." Kirito left, leaving just me and Rain.

"Are you going to ask me if I am doing anything?" Rain asks in a teasing tone.

"Nope, just if you were hungry. It's still pretty early." For some reason, my response made the smirk she was wearing grow.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like you're asking me out on a date."

"That...That is not what I was doing. I got the recipe for muffins recently, and I've been itching to make them. Has Lux convinced you to mess with me every chance you get?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Because of everyone here, I know her best."

"...She may have said something in passing."

"Ugh...of course. Well, our breakfasts aren't going to make themselves." The rumbling sound from my companion only reinforced the fact that it was time to eat. The kitchen that was normally empty quickly became my playground as I made a batch of what was as close as I could get to blueberry muffins. "And now we wait." I say, wiping my hands and pulling out my sewing kit.

"How has your [Tailoring] coming?"

"I think it's going good, but as Lux said, they don't...look good." I say, taking a pair of leather gloves out of my inventory. They were mostly brown but had patches of black on the palms. "See? And they aren't all that great stat wise either. I tried making a scarf like this one, but it barely did anything compared to this NPC bought one." Rain swiftly took the gloves from my hands and slide them on.

"They're comfortable, and it feels like there's fur inside."

"I used wolf pelt as the base and used boar skin to reinforce it." I held out my hand to take them back, but she didn't move to take the gloves off.

"I want to keep them."

"But they're pretty much useless."

"Then make a better pair. Until then, these are mine."

"I know you're playing me, but challenge accepted." I spent the half an hour it took for the muffins to cook trying to complete Rain's challenge, focusing solely on my task. The pair I ended up happy with were primarily brown like the pair on Rain's hands, but had red leather from a dungeon boar running along the length of each finger that spread out from the red palm. The defense boost, compared to the numbers on our stats, wasn't much, but it was higher than my scarf, so I'll take it. "Here. Try these on for size." I say as the alarm rings. Rain takes them and I remove the muffins from the oven.

"Thank you." She says, putting them on.

"No problem. Now we let these cool for a minute or so, and we should be golden." The baked goods cooled, and we each took one. "Bon appetit."

" _Vkusnyye,_ as always."

"Thanks. I try my best." We ate our breakfast in relative silence, simply enjoying our meal.

"What else do you do, in the real world? Lux says you cook there, and with the way you read…"

"Curious about little ol' me? I'm flattered. Well, Mom taught me sewing, though it was less fabric and more someone's skin, but it's kind of the same thing…?"

"No, D. No they are not."

"Seems similar enough, at least here in SAO. I used to go hiking, but that's out the window, but since moving here to Japan, I got back into fishing."

"There's a fishing skill, from what I've read."

"Nah. I want to keep that special for back home. It's one of the few 'sports' I can still do." I answer, getting out some meat and vegetables to make some chicken(?) sandwiches. It tasted like chicken, so…

"Will you ever tell us the full story? Lux said you mentioned how it happened to Klein."

"Yeah, of course! It's just...Lux had a point that day. I told someone I just met in a game an important part of my real life, and that's not something I should galavante about. It's not that I don't trust you."

"But you want to make sure that you're ready to share that." Rain says, cutting me off. "I understand."

"What about you? Anything fun?"

"...I sing…"

"Really? That's awesome! Can I hear something?"

"Why are you so excited?" Rain asks, laughing as I bounced on the balls of my feet.

"Rain, back home, I went nowhere without headphones playing music. I play tenor sax. Music is a fundamental part of my life, and I miss it dearly."

"Hehehe...Hahaha! With an answer like that, how can I refuse?" After clearing her throat, Rain began to sing a song in Russian.

"Wow...that was fantastic." I mutter as she finishes.

"D-Do you think so?"

"I wouldn't lie about this. You're more musically talented then I could ever be. Hell, I bet you could go pro once we get out of here."

"I HAVE always wanted to be an idol."

"...Yeah, I'd pay money to hear you sing." I say after thinking for a bit.

"Nyahaha...A girl tells ya her dream, and ya aren't even curious?"

"Nope. Everyone is entitled to their own dreams, for whatever reason. It's not my place to judge. Hello, though, Argo."

"Heya. Why are you two having this conversation in the kitchen?" The catlike girl asks.

"D was making breakfast and lunch, and we had time to kill." Rain says nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. "Why are YOU in this kitchen?"

"I heard you two flirting and was waiting to see if it was going anywhere." I turn my head away from Argo to look at Rain to see her rolling her eyes, and I felt myself do the same. "See? You even react to teasing the same."

"It's been a month, Argo. Enough is enough." I groan. "And even if this is retribution from Lux, I only did it for a few days. This is too much."

"Our love lives should be ours to decide." Rain says in what I think is agreement.

"Fair enough. Anyway, I was just dropping in. Seeing how everyone was doing before meeting up with Kii-bou."

"Didn't he leave to meet her already?" I ask Rain.

"Yes, he did."

"I'll see ya later then."

"I really don't get it." I sigh. "Sure, we get along well, but I think this is the first time we've actually spent time alone together."

" _Ya znayu_ , but people will see what they want to, and one of the first things you said to me does not help matters."

"Sorry again about that."

"It's fine, really. Please stop apologizing for it." Things grew quiet before an idea came to mind.

"Hey, since I've got lunch done, is there anything you want to do?" Rain looks like she's about to answer before Lux bursts through the door, with Silica on the floor behind her.

"Boss room…! Someone found…! Go now…!"

"So much for us doing something." Rain mutters as Lux takes the time to actually breath. I walked over and lifted Silica off the ground, though she was so out of it that she just flopped around in my arms.

"Let's take this somewhere else." I suggest. "She's not exactly in the best condition to be anywhere but in bed."

"I...I'm going to have to apologize when she wakes up." Lux says, shoulders falling as I took her up to the girl's room and set lay her down.

"Since you're calm, explain what happened." Rain says, crossing her arms.

"While we were visiting that blacksmith, thanks by the way, when Argo messaged me saying that some party found the boss room. The meeting is a few days from now to get a raid party together, apparently."

"I won't let Silica go." I say as I feel the scowl on my face grow. "Not only is her weapon not suited for bosses, as we've seen, but neither is her demeanor. I don't want to put her through that. None of us players should have our lives on the line, but someone as young as her? No way in hell."

"She's not helpless." Lux growls.

"She's a kid, and I'd rather get blown up a second time than let this place take her!" I shout, slamming my hand against the headboard.

"Looks like I came at a bad time."

"Klein, you get your ass in here right the fuck now!"

"Getting in the room." The older man responds to my demands. "You should really keep the language in check though."

"That...that was new…" Lux mutters.

"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

"You have a point." Silica says. "I don't belong in boss rooms. Not yet, at least. Thank you for caring."

"I'm glad you're being so understanding about this. So, what're you doing here, Klein?"

"Kirito expected something like this to happen, so he asked me to take her spot in your party during the raid."

"How could he?" Rain asks. "D doesn't really yell or anything like that."

"They've lived together for most of the month. Kirito probably some things that even I don't at this point."

"Okay, enough about me. What's our game plan for all this? Busting our asses until the raid isn't a good idea, but so is completely sitting on our laurels."

"The likelihood of making any kind of significant progress in leveling is low at this point, except for Lux." Rain states. "We'd be better off, for the most part, stocking up on items and gear."

"Fine. I'm going to build up my [Claws] so I can have some more sword skills for the boss." Lux says, leaving.

"And I really need to go tell the guys about this. It should be fine, since they said they didn't want to fight this boss, but I still think I should let them know." Klein adds. "But I can also do that in a bit."

"You should talk to your friends, Klein." Silica says, sitting up. "We've seen how you can procrastinate."

"Fair enough. Didn't think I'd be lectured by a kid today, though." He chuckles. "I'll be back." That left just the three of us.

"I should probably go stock up on potions before I forget. Again."

"I'll come with you. You owe me a shopping trip." Rain says, laughing afterwards.

"Wait why?" I ask.

"You asked what I wanted to do today, right? I wanted you to take me shopping."

"Suckered again, huh?" Silica asks in between bursts of hysterics.

"Hardy-har-har. Laugh it up while you can, Silica. Ready to go, milady?" I ask dramatically, holding out an elbow.

"Oh? And what's this?" Rain replies, seemingly catching on.

"If I'm to pay for your whims, then I should escort you too, no?"

"Why of course."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Silica shouts as the two of us start laughing loudly. "It's not funny when it's happening to you."

"Seriously, ready to go?" I ask, opening the door and catching my breath.

"Yes." Rain answers, giggling still.

"Do you really want me to pay for everything you want?" I ask as we walk through the market, scared for my wallet.

"Of course. I need to get the usual potions and stuff...As for anything else? We'll just have to see what I find." She answers with an index finger on her chin. The first thing we did was stock up on potions. I was also forced to buy a new pair of boots, as stereotypical as that is, and I had to pay for her sword upgrades.

"I feel like you guys are all abusing my kindness…" I say through gritted teeth.

"Then why don't I repay the favor next time?" My companion suggests. "That way, it's just friends doing each other a favor."

"I...That's fair...I guess."

"Is it not?"

"Well, seeing as how next time is probably going to be on the next floor, it'll be more expensive than what I paid today."

"It's fine, don't worry."

"If you're sure." I sigh, shaking my head. "Anything else?"

"Nothing that I can think of. You?"

"Nope. I think I have everything. I got my potions, my gear is up to spunk, and I've got enough materials to make food and improve my [Tailoring] for a while." As I finished, I grabbed ahold of my scarf.

"Planning on working on that?"

"Yeah. Lux would tear me a new one for getting sentimental over a piece of starter gear, but I like this old thing."

"She takes this a little too seriously. There's nothing wrong if it's something like an accessory." Ran says. "I don't think black is your color though."

"It really is more Kirito's thing, but it's all I have to work with. From what I saw in the crafting menu, there's nothing this floor drops that I can use to make anything even remotely better."

"I have an idea." Rain says, opening her inventory. "Try using this."

"...That's a skirt…"

"Yup!"

"A skirt that you've worn."

"Mhm!"

"Why?"

"It was a drop from a field boss from a while back. It might be good if you break it down first."

"Oh. Well, thanks Rain." I checked my menu and saw that it was close to noon. "Want lunch? We're near that hill from that one time."

"Sure! I'll message the others to meet us there."

"...Okay…"

"Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. Go ahead and give them a ring. I'll go set up, since I still have that blanket." I walk off, leaving Rain on her own. The blanket came out of my inventory flat and ready to use, and I set the sandwiches onto a plate.

"What's gotcha down?"

"Oh, hey Argo. It's nothing. Sandwich?" I ask, holding one up for the informant.

"Sure, but you don't frown. Scowl and grumble, but never frown."

"Yeah, figures I couldn't get anything past you. It might be easier to just boil it down to trying to prove myself. I planned on spending the day with Rain, to show Lux, and maybe myself, that I can actually interact with other people without a third person, and improve my friendship with her while I'm at it. Turns out it can never play out the way I want it to."

"Well I think you're doing fine. Ya bring your own strengths to the table, 'specially since you got that axe."

"Yeah, but this is still an MMO, and combat isn't everything."

"You know, you could've just talked to me about that." Lux's voice says from behind me. "See? This is why I baby you. You've always tried to shoulder things."

"Well one of us needs to be responsible." I quip.

"Dude, you need to chill. Rome wasn't built in a day." Klein comments, putting a hand on my shoulder. "So, about those sandwiches…"

"Go ahead, Klein." I chuckle. "Everyone else too." The food was consumed quickly as we chatted aimlessly. We all went our separate ways, which resulted in me spending the rest of the day tearing down the gift Rain gave me, somehow making it into a scarf, and adding other materials to make it viable. The scarf was incredibly long, reaching the middle of my back even though I wrapped it around my neck several times, was primarily red with yellow diagonal lines on it, and boosted my defense rather than my agility. The two days before the meeting flew by almost as quickly as cooking does.

"Ready?" Kirito asks, equipping his best gear in our shared room.

"As ready as I can be." I reply, adjusting my scarf. "Anything I should look out for during this?"

"The axe Illfang uses eats away more stamina when being blocked than the sword he uses later into the fight."

"Fun. Good thing I dumped more than usual into it recently. Well, better not keep the ladies waiting."

"You do know Klein is down there with them, right?"

"I know what I said."

"...I don't get your sense of humor."

"Most people here in Japan don't. I think they started a club back at school for trying to figure it out." I say dryly. The two of us made our way to the waiting group, who also had Silica with them.

"Took you long enough." Lux grumbles, yet the fire in her eyes spoke a much different story.

"You know, not everyone is as excited about risking their lives as you are." Klein comments.

"It's better to be excited than scared though, right?" Silica asks from her seat at the table between bites of bread.

"She has a point." Rain adds. "Though we should be going. The meeting will start soon, and it is across town."

"Dammit, D!"

"I had to make some finishing touches, okay!? If you're in such a rush, let's move!" I shout back at Lux, running out past everyone and leaving Silica in the dust left in our wake. The meeting was taking place in the arena on the side of town closest to the dungeon tower, which meant we didn't have much time before it started. There was really only space for the five of us in one of the rows farthest from the guy with blue hair and armor standing on what was currently a stage.

"Hey, everyone! Thanks for coming. My name is Diavel, and in this game I'm a knight. I know you might be discouraged about the fact that two thousand people have died already, but I believe that with careful planning and determination, we can beat the first floor." The man says.

"Two thousand huh...Less than I thought." Lux comments grimly.

"It's sucks knowing I had a hand in that." I say quietly.

"Thinning out the herd I say...yea...sure…." Lux adds, causing Kirito to turn his head to her in shock. "What? There's something good in everything...Anyway, shush. The blue guy is going to talk again." She says pointing at Diavel.

"With the help of the beta testers-" Diavel was cut off by a pineapple that should've been under the sea.

"Beta testers!" He yells, storming his way down the stairs. "Beta testers are the reason we're stuck in this game!"

"Dammit, Kibaou, not again…" Diavel groans.

"He...he does realize how stupid he sounds, right?" I ask, pointing at the now named Kibaou.

"Sojiro, what the hell are you doing!?" Lux quietly shouts.

"Um, speaking my thoughts out loud quietly in order to attempt to process the insanity of the man standing before me? Why?"

"We don't question the little people...Besides, I think everything is gonna be just fine." She says with a small smirk.

"You just signed our death warrants." Klein states dryly.

"I doubt it will be that bad, Klein." Rain counters.

"Look, I've witnessed the results of that phrase in real life. I'm not taking any chances."

"Just trust me." Lux says, raising a finger to point at the rising giant of man.

"If I may interject." The man says in a rumbling deep voice.

"And who the hell are you?" Spikes McGee says aggressively.

"I am known by many names. Mountain Slayer. Thunder Lion. The Chocolate Axe. But you, you may call me...Tiffany."

"That's a...very masculine sounding name."

"Shouldn't be. It's a woman's name."

"I don't know how to talk to you."

"Good. Then shut up and listen."

"I want to get to know him." I whisper. "He seems awesome."

"Oh yea? Me and Tiff go way back to day...three?" Argo says, leaning on to Kirito's shoulders. "He's a cool guy, you have good taste in friends."

"...What about Lux then?" I ask in a joking tone.

"I mean...friends shouldn't hide stuff...so up to you?" Argo says, chuckling at the end.

"Oh fuck…" I mutter

"What's Argo talking about?" Klein asks, turning to me.

"Nothing Klein. Nothing at all. Look, black guy kicking around a pineapple! Entertaining, no?" Lux says, trying to distract the man. I guess Argo was right. I DO know how to pick friends. "Also Argo, two thousand Cor says you shut up on that topic for now." Lux adds giving the money over.

"Sure thing, nyehehe…"

"Okay, we're seriously gonna have to have a talk after this. Agreed? Agreed." Klein says matter-of-factly.

"Ok, so any ideas!?" Diavel says catching our attention.

"We could hit it till it dies?" One guy suggests before high fiving his friend like he's a genius.

"And Illfang would hit you until you die." Kirito says grimly.

"Annnny other ideas?" The knight asks, looking hopeful.

"Guerilla warfare?" I ask more than suggest.

"Are there even any gorillas on this floor though?" One guy asks.

"Not...not the animal. The hit and run stuff. The reason why America's a thing." I sigh.

"Let's try the guide book...ok?" Diavel asks, looking through the book. "Nope...nope…oh hell no!" He starts saying as he reads through the book.

"We could form actual balanced parties and rely orders through a stable command?" Lux suggests...everyone looks at her as if she was an idiot.

"Oh! There's this one, called the final solution and when the boss tries...oh god…anyone have any ideas...good suggestion by the way...whoever you are." He says pointing at Lux.

"I'd like to hear more about this final solution." A German sounding guy says, a bit too excitedly.

"We should NOT hear more about that." Rain comments. Lux, fed up, hops down to the bottom and looks at the group before taking a deep breath.

"Alright, get into three groups, Tanks, Damage dealers and Agility players. From there we will arrange the parties to make up for each person's weakness. Does this sound good to you Diavel?" She asks, to which he curtly nods. No one moves for a few minutes so he steps forward.

"You heard the lady, separate into those groups!" At his command, we all split up into the groups, and from there sorted into a party...probably because it was Lux doing the organizing. So far, our group was just the five of us because we were already pretty balanced with two damage dealers, a tank, and two [Agility] builds.

"I'll leave the rest to you Diavel." She says before hastily making her way over to us. "Why didn't you guys stop me?" She asks, hands shivering. Well...more like her whole body shivering.

"This is Karma." I say confidently. "That's why I didn't, at least."

"Karma." Klein says, nodding in agreement.

"I was too busy talking with Argo." Kirito says, sheepishly.

"I thought it'd help you?" Rain more asks herself then anything. Lux falls to the floor dramatically, starts to say something but stops.

"Uh, thank you...Lux was it? Anyway, from here I'll split you up into squads. Each squad will do a different task, but can be reassigned to help another squad and such if needs be." We got assigned to H with the duty of minion slaying.

"Hey...Should we find a drifter?" I ask. "We have a free slot, and it's not a good idea if anyone ends up going in solo."

"I came prepared for a situation like this! One minute!" He comes back a few minutes later, someone kicking and screaming all the while he was in view.

"Taking bets that he kidnapped someone." Klein says jokingly.

"I'm not the one being replaced this time!" I shout, staring Lux in the eyes.

"Try me, bitch." Lux says, before disengaging quickly. "I said nothing…."

"You said that loudly." Rain states.

"Oh look, another female...Attention there, not me?" Lux tries.

"Get your hands off me you pervert!" The cloaked girl yells, struggling out of his grip.

"Oh, well hello there." Klein says, making his way over.

"Klein, no." I say, putting my hands on his shoulders to stop him. "Mama D is putting her foot down. You can't even see her face."

"You think he cares?" Both Lux and Rain comments.

"I...I think I'm gonna care a little." The man in question says as I intensify my glare at him.

"Anyway, here's our back up...introducing, the Grand Wizard."

"There's a story behind this...isn't there?" Klein asks. Kirito pulls out a crystal.

"Courtesy of Argo." He says before activating it. "Yo, T-dawg. Any new gear, homeskillet?" I look around to see if Tiffany was still around. I've heard that way of speaking before, and want to warn him.

"What…?" 'The Grand Wizard' asks, as we're all staring at her blankly.

"D...care to tell her?"

"That is NOT how you talk to a black man." I say.

"But I want speak like his people…"

"It's...it's the same language though. You can't just step into a culture you don't belong to."

"Speak the truth!" The man in question shouts from...somewhere...

"Yo! Is that T?" She asks, perking up.

"Stay away from me!"

"Asuna, down." Kirito says.

"Why does our group always contain the crazies?" Lux jokes, while staring at me.

"What?" I ask. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh, no reason. Anyway, add her into the party once she stops...Uh, Kirito…? Kirito!" She says pointing the the woman dashing towards Tiffany.

"I got this." Klein says grabbing her cloak and yanking her back…ripping the cloak and shattering it in the process.

"I will bet five real world US dollars that this will go poorly for him." I say, having a feeling about what's going to happen next. The next few moments happen quickly with asuna rising to her feet then gut punching him a good few feet away. "I'm sad no one took me up on that." I pout.

"Anyway, I'm Asuna. Nice to meet you." She says as if the last few minutes hadn't happened.

"...D. Hi." I reply cautiously.

"So how do I join your guys party?" She asks, cutting off Rain's self introduction.

"It's easy. Just open the menu." Kirito says with a shit eating grin.

"I can and will stab you." Was her hasty response.

"Okay. Let Mama D learn you a thing." I say, walking up behind her. "Also, THAT'S how properly do what you're trying to do." I take her wrist and make her hold her hand up. "Point two fingers out, and swipe down. That'll open the menu." I made her body do just that. "See? Now, the party invite is in the icon that has the red exclamation point next to it. Just tap it and you're set to accept."

"Thanks! At least SOMEONE can be helpful!"

"I did try! But you wouldn't listen!" Kirito shouts in annoyance. "It's about that damn drop I got, wasn't it?"

"I told you I wanted the 1s."

"That's...not how that works." Rain says with confusion.

"Long story...Can we just focus and go fight the...and the raid party left us behind…" Kirito says, pointing that out.

"Raid ain't till tomorrow." Tiffany says from his spot hiding behind the tree. "I think he said something about sending the squad leaders the time as a reminder."

"Thanks, homie."

"Stop that!"

"What am I doing wrong?" Asuna asks, confused. "Oh wait…moving on...so can someone spot me some Cor…? Maybe a room…? I don't seem to have any Cor…" I could hear the faint catlike laughter of the perpetrator in the distance.

"Sure I can spot you some, wait...better yet, I can just sleep on the floor while you take the bed...I need the Cor for something." Lux says...strangely.

"Lux. Friend. I've been there. I've done that. Don't do that tonight."

"But I like doing that...Rather, I prefer it." She says, yawning.

"Doesn't seem like we have a choice in the matter." Klein says, chuckling. "Talk first, then sleep." He adds, looking at me.

"But I'm tired."

"I have to agree. There is something going on." Rain says, and Kirito nods.

"Um...what's going on?" Asuna asks, looking around confusedly.

"Some stuff happened earlier, and I'm getting to the bottom of it."

"Fine. Fine. Make it quick though." Lux says, dragging Klein and me along, the others following behind. "Here. Privacy." She shouts tiredly, closing the door to the room she shared with Silica and Rain.

"Hey everyone. What's going on?" Silica asks, though she gets ignored.

"So...where we gonna start?" Kirito asks awkwardly.

"D's really a girl, now LET ME SLEEP." Lux growls, curling up on the floor. The group stays silent for a few minutes, and I shuffle awkwardly in place before Klein speaks up.

"So what's it like?" He asks, his normal smirk rising again, arm wrapping around me and pulling me into a bro hug.

"Seeing as how it's my twin brother's body? Weird, and kind of creepy. We have similar builds and stuff, so his scan ended up working for me."

"Saaam, let me sleep…" The curled up lux cries out.

"You put me on the spot by just blurting it out. This is your punishment."

"That's a cute name, D!" Silica says happily, Klein and Kirito nodding in agreement, and Rain looks like she's still kinda taking it in.

"It's...kind of normal. I don't see why you think it's so special…" I awkwardly mutter.

"So you're who Argo was talking about!" She exclaims, as if the last puzzle piece had just been put into place.

"Slep..." Lux complains from her corner.

"...Doesn't this mean Kirito has been sharing a room with a girl?" Rain asks after her moment of processing.

"Yup! Wanna see some pics?" Argo asks appearing out of thin air.

"Pics? What pics?" Kirito asks nervously.

"Nyehehehe...Forty thousand Cor, kii-bou." Argo laughs.

"Kirito! Grab D and leave...before I…" Lux starts but trails off into mumbling before falling asleep.

"...Does this mean I gotta room with tall, dark and lonely here?" Klein asks.

"Tall? He's not tall." I comment, denying Klein's joke.

"Lux did say we would have to save up for a house...I think this was why." Silica comments.

"Um...I think I'll stay with you, Klein. Asuna can room with D then." Kirito says, not making eye contact with me for some reason.

"Why ya blushing Kii-bou~?" Argo asks cat laughing.

"Yeah. Why you blushing, buddy?" Asuna asks with a smirk.

"Let's just sleep...we do have a boss to kill after all." Klein says. Silica agreeing, pulling the blanket of her bed up to her chin.

"Slep!" Lux cheers in her corner. As I'm being dragged away by Asuna a message pops up in view.

[Have fun- Administration. P.S. You're gonna enjoy tomorrow~]

"Asuna. I'm scared." I says as I get thrust into bed.

"Why, Sammy?"

"Kayaba just sent me a message that's all vague and creepy."

"Is it about synching your iTunes playlists? I had one before…"

"What? No! I use Google Music."

"Oh. Nevermind then...Should we not go to the boss tomorrow?" She asks worried?

"I'm the only tank, so...I'm gonna have to. Maybe it really isn't anything to worry about, and we can just go on with our lives."

"If you say so." The two of us changed into sleepwear, privately because I was still technically in my brother's body, and went to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, my chest felt...heavy…

"Ugh…"

"Good morning, sleepy head." Asuna says from the chair in the room with a hairbrush in her hand. Before long, the hairbrush was launched at my head. "That's for almost killing me this morning!"

"K-Kill you!?" I exclaim, then I noticed my voice. "...Kayaba…"

"Morning D- oh hey Sam...SAM!?" Lux starts tiredly whilst walking in before seeing me and shocks herself awake. "Kayaba?"

"Who else! Now close the door before someone sees!" I shout, realizing that since I didn't have a shirt on when I fell asleep, I was exposed to the world after I sat up in bed.

"I still don't get why or how you hide those things…" Lux comments, as she threw a shirt over for me.

"Thanks, and I've told you why."

"Asuna, after the boss fight, we need to make her more girly...because trust me...Sam doesn't act, talk, think or dress like one of us." Lux says as I pull the shirt she gave me on.

"I heard yelling, what happ...ened…" Kirito yells before slowly quieting. "D?"

"...Hey…" I say weakly.

"...I'm taking her out to get new gear." Asuna states, grabbing my hand.

"The scarf stays." I demand as Asuna literally drags me out of bed and into town. Rain and Silica looked very confused as I went by their door, waving.

"So...any preference?" Asuna asks.

"Pants."

"None of them are any good stat wise." Our local game fanatic says from the rooftop. "Sup?"

"Wait for us!" I could hear Silica yell.

" _Pomedlenneye_!" Rain yells being dragged along by the girl almost half her size.

"Please stop...People are staring…" I mutter.

"You get used to it." Asuna whispers.

"There's a reason I use binders…"

"And that's why you aren't very girly." Lux says while dropping down from her perch.

"Who says I want to be girly though. I'm fine the way I am."

"And how your brother tells me that you spend a long time staring at girly stuff, but not putting it on says that?" Lux asks, smirking.

"I am going to STRANGLE him, cafe be damned. Fine, yes, I like them, but look at these! I can't do that!" I whisper loudly, hands on my chest. The girls all look at each other before their own chests, then each sigh. After a few minutes of awkward silence the girls share a look. A look that scares me. Asuna and lux disappear somewhere while Rain and Silica start pushing me towards a shop. Time flies as does clothes as Rain and Silica forced me into outfit after outfit before finding one that they thought would fit me best. That resulted in my wearing a royal blue vest with a black shirt underneath, a royal blue pleated skirt that falls down to my knees, dark brown boots with a 3 inch heel with leather laces going along the back, and the scarf that I made.

"There you go. You look like an actual girl now." Rain says cheerfully.

"I feel ridiculous…"

"Mission complete." Asuna can be heard saying as the her and Lux enter the shop.

"Here, accept trade and equip." Lux says, sending over a trade. The trade containing...lots of underwear.

"Um...I can at least pick out my own underwear, Lux."

"No. No you can't. You left the camera on when getting out of the shower that one time we were chatting, and I've seen what you put on."

"You gave her a show?" Asuna asks. "Are you gay?"

"Considering how you disturbed my sleep...Let me answer that, ok D?" Lux asks, with a knowing smirk.

"I feel like my answer won't matter. Can we just...not talk about it in the middle of a public place where people besides Argo can eavesdrop?"

"Sam, you ARE getting out that closest one day whether you like it or not." She whispers to me before leaving the shop. I could only sigh at her stubbornness, as she headed to the boss room.

"We need to get the others, before it's too late." As it so happens, the familiar blue haired knight approaches us.

"Good morning. How's your group...Though I don't recall you being a part of it…" He says with a questioning glance towards me.

"Something came up with him, so they found someone to take his place…" Silica lies through her teeth.

"Oh, I see. That's...sad. On another note we have yet to be acquainted haven't we?" Asking the group. Silica leans towards me.

"You could just use your name...as your name is a bit...you know." She suggests before introducing herself to the man.

"...Sam. You can call me Sam. It's easier than the username my brother made me."

"Sam, huh? A pleasure to meet you." He says, smiling.

"Introductions are nice and all, but we have a problem. Pretty sure a friend of ours is marching her way to the boss room right now." Asuna says, interrupting any conversation the man may have wanted to continue. His face turns serious in an instant.

"I'll message the party leaders to gather, if your group goes on ahead I'll ensure we won't be that far behind." He says already that messaging people.

"Silica, go back to the room and get Klein and Kirito. We're going to go catch up." Rain orders to the girl, who moves once she's done speaking. The three of us began to run, only for me to realize I've never worn heels before, and ended up falling on my face.

"Just like the first day after my accident." I grumble, standing back up and trying again. There were many failures until I finally got the hang of it and caught back up with my friend and accidental victim, where we then proceeded to follow the Wolverine-esque path of destruction through the dungeon. "Okay. New rule. No more heels this big or higher." I say between large breaths of digital air. Asuna visibly pouts at that. "Oh, don't you pout at me. I think I lost more health tripping with these damn things than I have to mobs in the last week."

"Now is not the time for arguing." Rain states, going into the door that lead to the boss fight. Lux had cleared out a number of the adds that Illfang had with him, as well as taking out most of his first health bar. She was mid sword skill when a minion jumped at her from behind. Thinking quickly, I ran up and swatted it out the air with my axe.

"I thought you of all people would know not to be this stupid." I comment, bringing the blade of my weapon down on the prone kobold, killing it.

"You were pissing me off!" She roars, digging into the throat of another kobold minion.

"Because I wanted to talk about an IRL thing with friends in the privacy of our room?!" I ask, using [Cleave] to tear into another kobold.

"Because of everything!" She replies, bowling over a different minion. I hadn't noticed it, but Rain and Asuna had started mowing down the mobs that weren't near us. It wasn't long before the rest of the raid party stormed into the room and Diavel started barking orders. Since the mobs were effectively taken care of, we were able to switch entire squads in to deal damage to the boss. That only lasted until Illfang's health fell into the red.

"Squad H, fall back and heal up! Squad B, take over!" Diavel shouts, giving us room to prepare as a new wave of minions showed up. It was also the signal that Illfang had changed weapons. Kirito's eyes went wide as the boss drew his new weapon.

"Diavel! Get everyone away! That's not a Talwaar! It's a Nodachi!" Diavel seemed to pay him no mind as he not only let the teams fight as they were told, but barreled past them all time to attack Illfang on his own.

"What's he doing!?" Klein shouts.

"He's going for the last attack bonus." Lux says, calmer than I thought she would be in this situation. "And he's going to get himself killed." Illfang began leaping from pillar to pillar, before landing a devastating diagonal slash to Diavel's torso.

"Let's go." Asuna said, running in the direction of the boss and his victim. It seemed Illfang wasn't done with Diavel just yet, as he prepared another sword skill. The six of us were able to make it in time, and between Rain and I we were able to block it while Asuna, Lux and Klein drove him back. I wasn't paying much attention to what was said, seeing as how Illfang hit hard, but I noticed the mood of our group change as I heard Kirito stand up.

"Sam." I hear Kirito say. "Can you give us an opening?"

"Want me to parry master? Say no more." I chuckle, tightening my grip on my axe. Without a spoken command the six of us moved, setting up a chain of parries and counters. Rain, Klein and I blocked his attacks while Kirito, Asuna and Lux attacked. It took a bit of doing, and a close call with me getting hit by the follow up swing of a two hit sword skill that I had to dodge, but Lux's claws sank into Illfang's eyes and he shattered.

 **Woo! Boss fight done!** Finally…. **Says the one who did very little for this chapter because he was on vacation.** Shhh. **Meh. I got it done, and just in time for when I wanted to, though I was hoping to get this out sooner.** Fair? Anyway see you guys next time, seeya. **You stole my thing! Peace!**


	5. Christmas Special

**Ah, nothing like writing a Christmas special 20 days in advance…** Well it's sooo not my fault I'll be away for most of this month. **Sure, just rub it in that you can go traveling and stuff. Anyway, should we at least throw out that this is going to be out of place timeline wise?** Now where's the fun in telling them? **So that characters that haven't been introduced yet in the story proper make sense?** Fair point…? Anyway let's just get on with the show.

"Thanks for the help, Mom." I say, holding the gift for Nijika under my arm while my mom holds the rest. "I think everyone else would be waiting forever if I had to take these one at a time."

"I think they'd understand." My mom laughs. "Just make sure you don't leave your crutches here like you did at Nijika's house the other day."

"We agreed not to talk about that." I grumble as I struggle to get the door open. "Tiff! I thought you said you put in a push door!"

"That's not until after the holidays." The deep voice of the scam merchant replies, opening the door. He was dress in a business casual white button-up and blue jeans. "Need a hand?"

"Please." I say, gesturing to my mom. "I can handle this one, but my mom kind of has places to be while we do this." Tiff took the bags from my mom and holds the door for me. "See ya later."

"Have fun." My mom replies, getting in the car and leaving.

"Who are we missing?" I ask, making my way over to an empty seat at the large table the owner set up.

"Well, Kirito and Lux are in the bathroom, and I think Klein is in a corner somewhere throwing up. Sounded like Kirito was trying to coach Lux out. Everyone else is a no show so far." Tiff explains.

"How is he that wasted already?"

"Shots, and it's Klein. The idiot didn't even know what he was walkin' into." As Tiff finishes his sentence, the door opens and his face goes sour.

"Sup, T-Dog! Hey...gimpy? Who are you?" A voice asks. Asuna entered the room wearing a dark pink short skirt, a light pink turtleneck sweater, mostly transparent stockings, brown ankle boots and a white winter coat.

"Why did we invite her again?" Tiffany whispers to me.

"Because we never got to have that lived through SAO party until after Sugou was used as a punching bag. Hey, Asuna. I'm Samantha Sakai, but you know me as D."

"I thought you looked slightly familiar, but you have less hair. Is it only you and Klein, or are there others here?" She asks, taking a seat next to me.

"Mom made me trim the beard before she let me leave the house."

"Kirito and Lux are 'ere, but they're in the bathroom." Tiff says, only giving half of the info.

"We WERE in the bathroom. Not anymore." Kirito says, walking out of the bathroom with Lux following a few minutes later. He was wearing a grey t-shirt, blue jeans, black sneakers and a black jacket. Seemingly out of character for Lux, she's wearing a short sleeve pink lolita dress that's practically all frills.

"Okay, this is weird. In all the years I've known you, you've never worn frills."

"Wait, you two knew each other before SAO?" Asuna asks.

"Did we never bring that up with her?" Lux asks. "Anyway, I used to dress like this a while back, thought I'd pick it back up after SAO...Why, does it no longer look good on me?" Lux asks concerned.

"No, just...out of place for what I know of you. Who am I to judge anyway? I'm in jeans and a t-shirt with these crappy ass crutches."

"Nijika doesn't seem to mind them." Lux comments with a smirk.

"Well, I can only work with what I have, and I think she understands that."

"Does that bother you Akiyo?" Rain/ Nijika asks whilst walking into the bar. She was wearing a red headband with white flowers and pink ribbon on it, a red dress that was held up by a choker that exposed a bit of cleavage that reached her mid-thigh and had a frilled skirt, a cloth belt with a single white flower, green stockings and bicep high gloves, and red heels.

"Uh...no. No it does not. Hi, by the by, Nijika."

"Hello. Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to someone." A small girl with Nijika's hair and pink eyes came up from behind her. The girl, which I've been shown a baby picture of, was wearing black heels with a pink bow on each, black stockings, a light blue and white dress that looked like a long winter coat with white shoulders, a fur collar, and two pink bows on each hip. "This is my sister, Nanairo."

" _Privyet!_ " She says, holding a box much too large for her. I can see her head sweep before locking eyes with me. "Is she the one?" She asks Nijika, pointing at me.

"Yes, that's Sam." As soon as she answers, the large box is shoved into my arms, making me glad I was in a chair.

"Here! Open it!"

"We're waiting for everyone before we open gifts." Kirito says.

"Fine." Nanairo huffs.

"You are so cute!" Lux cheers, scooping up my girlfriend's sister as tightly as possible. "Can I have her?"

"No, you can't have my sister."

Soon after, Silica entered the room in a festive green frilly blouse, white leggings and white furry winter boots.

"That's nine. Everyone's here plus one." Tiff says, looking at a clipboard like a bouncer.

"Ahweshome…" Klein slurs. "We should...we should introdushe ourshelves…"

"Seriously, why is he drunk?" I ask, pointing at the red headed man that was struggling to get into his seat.

"The man wanted shots. I run a bar, and he paid, so..." Tiff answers. "But she does have a point. Klein, if I didn't say it before, I'm cutting you off. "

"D-Don't be like that, Tiff…" The man in question groans.

"Where are Lisbeth and the others?" Kirito asks, looking around.

"I got a call from Lis saying her parents made plans last minute." Asuna answers.

"And everyone else had plans before this." Tiff says.

"I'll start with Klein's idea! My name is Keiko Ayano, and my username is Silica. Nice to meet you."

"My name is Nijika Karatachi, aka Rain."

"Samantha Sakai, but you know me better as D." I say with a two finger salute.

"Andrew Gilbert Mills. Tiffany."

"I'm Asuna Yuuki."

"My name's Kazuto Kirigaya." Kirito says, before checking his phone. "Um, Tiffany, my sister's running a little late, so make that ten."

"Glad I made extra then."

"Akiyo Higashi. Lux." She says.

"Doctor Nanairo Arshavin. It's good to meet all my sister's friends."

"Doctor?" The inebriated Klein asks, voicing our shared question.

"I have a science Ph.D."

"Ryoutarou Tsuboi." Klein says surprisingly cleanly. A timer dinged from somewhere behind the bar. "Food…"

"Yep. Looks like the last of it's done."

"Let me give you a hand, T-Fizzle."

"No. No way. My bar is my safe place, and you aren't allowed in."

"Nyahaha...I gotcha, Tiffany." A catty voice says.

"Thanks, Argo." He says, taking a tray from the girl that walked in. She was wearing sneakers, jeans, and a yellow hoodie.

"It's Kana here in the real world." The now named Kana says. "The turkey wasn't quite done, so I left it in for a little longer."

"Sorry I'm late!" A voice shouts as the door bursts open. The girl was sweating slightly, clad in jeans and a holiday t-shirt like me. "The trains were behind with how many people there were."

"There! Everyone's here! Open it!" Nanairo cheers, getting up in my face.

"Okay! And here I thought Silica was excitable." I tore open the wrapping and opened the box. Within was some strange metal contraption.

"What...is this?"

"Merry Christmas! I got you a leg!" The girl says. "Your turn, Sis!"

"Um...excuse me?"

"When I started talking with my sister after we got out of SAO, I may have mentioned you and what happened."

"She talked about you a lot." Nanairo corrects, and I felt very warm. "So I got in contact with some colleagues, and we designed this. You won't be able to completely walk on your own, but…"

"That's what this is for." Nijika finishes, handing me a cylindrical package. Opening it revealed a cane. On the head was a hammer striking an anvil carved into it. "I know how clumsy you can be, so it's made of mahogany, and the symbol on the head is for the Greek god of fire that also had to walk with a cane."

"Um…"

"Sorry, Sugu, but you came in at a weird time." Kazuto apologizes. "To make things simple, D can't walk without crutches, and she just got gifted a means to only need that."

"Oh. Well that's great!"

"If you're so excited, help her stand so I can get it on." Nanairo says, sounding much more professional than earlier.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Nijika and 'Sugu' held me steady on my good leg as the contraption was attached.

"And...there. Put some weight on it." Nanairo says to me after standing up. I did as told, and didn't immediately feel myself collapse, though I definitely had to put more weight on the cane.

"Holy shit…" I mutter, moving my once useless appendage. "Talk about Christmas miracles. Are you sure your sister isn't the second coming of Christ, Nijika?"

"I'm sure, Sam. She's just a genius." She answers with a warm smile. I couldn't help but hug her in response. "N-Not here…"

"Aw...you two are sho chute…" Klein slurs, leaned over the table.

"Since some presents are happening…" I start, hobbling over to the table. "I made something for you, Silica."

"For me?" Said girl asks, taking the bag I handed her.

"Of course. My mom helped, but between my description and what showed up in that book, we were able to replicate her pretty well." Silica reached into the bag and pulled out the stuffed Pina doll. "Like it?"

"I love it! This is perfect!"

"I'm glad you like it."

"Doesn't smell as good as in Aincrad." Asuna grumbles, standing near the turkey that Argo just set on the food table.

"Well, not all of us could eat S ranked food. That's on you." Argo says, sharpening the carving knife.

"...Touche…" Silica grumbles, crossing her arms.

"Hey, I feel like I should let you know that your mother came over yesterday, Sam." Tiff says. "Gave me a recipe for today. Suguha, mind grabbing the biscuits that are cooling on the counter?"

"Sure." The girl replies, bringing out a plate of bread product that I only ever saw at Thanksgiving time in the States.

"Oh, my mom is the best." I mutter, grabbing one of the baking powder biscuits from the plate before it reached the table.

"Are those why they're so big?" Silica asks, poking at my chest from the side.

"No, Silica. That's not how it works." I answer. As food was served, I noticed that everyone subtly migrated to their own groups. Akiyo, Kazuto, and Suguha formed one, Ryoutarou, Asuna, and Keiko formed another, and lastly there was Andrew and Kana.

"Surprised to see that everyone is splitting up even though we all have been reunited?" Nijika asks, sitting down beside me with a plate full of food.

"Not really. Our group has always been diverse enough that some people will get along better than others. Just look at us. Except for you sister, who's...somewhere...we split off from everyone too."

"Nanairo was taking her time getting food, and fair point."

"I was not taking my time! I was making sure I got a little of everything." She says defensively, carrying a mountain of food on her plate. "It would be rude to not try what had so much time put into it."

"Yeah, but are you going to be able to eat all of that?" I ask. "It's also rude to waist food, you know?"

"I do. I was going to bring home what I couldn't."

"*sigh*...Mother is NOT going to be happy." Nijika comments, though she made no attempt to stop her. After a while of eating, Andrew went over and turned on some music. 

"Can't believe I forgot." The man laughs, rubbing the back of his bald head.

"Nijika?" Nanairo asks as her sister starts humming.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Do you want to sing the next song together?" Nanairo asks, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Of course." Nijika answers. However, the two did not sing the next song. They sang christmas songs for the better part of an hour, and everyone joined in with them at least once. Some, like me and Ryoutarou, were stopped after one, while Keiko and Akiyo were encouraged for encores.

"Hey, Andrew." I say after my...rather disgraceful rendition of 'Here Comes Santa Claus'. "I've got a question for either you or Kana."

"What's up?" Kana asks, and Andrew nods his head.

"ALO is based on Norse mythology, right? Has there been any hints about other realms?"

"Nothing in game. Why?" Andrew asks.

"There's been rumors, but that's 'bout it." Kana confirms.

"Well, Norse mythology has demons, does it not?"

"That's what this is about. Sorry, but I don't know if you're gonna be able to get your little trick back."

"Ah. Well, thanks anyway guys." 

The night went on like that, for the most part. People jumped groups from time to time, exchanging gifts on occasion. Kazuto had gotten Akiyo a simple gold necklace, but she seemed to treasure it like it had the most precious of stones hanging from it. Suguha had gotten Asuna a small book with the title mentioning healing, so it might be to help her with her healer build she made. Kana said she had something, but it'd have to wait for when all of us got back on ALO. Oh, and Akiyo almost died and it may or may not have been my fault, but I feel like everyone had a generally nice time.

"I can't believe you almost suffocated Akiyo." Klein laughs, sobered up after a few hours of being cut off.

"She got me some comics that came out after I moved here. Manga is nice, but comics are my bread and butter." I reply, waiting on the street for my ride. "Thanks for waiting with me. I know Nanairo is smart and all, but it's amazing that she forgets that she's still a kid."

"It's all good. I've got a taxi coming anyway. What's that paper you've got?"

"Detailed instructions on how to get this brace on and off, as well as suggestions for my physical therapist."

"Ah. Yeah, that's pretty important." In the distance, I saw my mom's car come around the corner. "That your ride?"

"Yup. See ya later, Klein." I climbed in the car, and mom was visibly holding herself back from crying. Dad didn't have as much restraint as I walked in the door. Best Christmas ever.

 **Well, that's that. One holiday special wrapped in a nice little bow. We decided to go about it a little differently, since it was supposed to be a short little thing, but I feel like it turned out alright. Since it's just me...See ya!**


	6. Chapter 5

And we're back! What's it been...months? **A month and four days, to be overly specific.** Huh...moving on, let's just get right into it? **Sure. Let's.**

 **(PS: Life happened, so sorry for the delay.)**

Once the hexagonal pixels had disappeared, and Lux landed on the ground safely, a menu popped up in front of me, revealing my awards for participating in the fight. I had gotten a large amount of Cor and experience, as well as a drop that ended up being a pair of earrings with purple hearts hanging from the studs.

"Oh god, I feel sorry for you now…" Lux chuckles out while equipping her drop/last attack bonus...I think? "Ah, this coat feels just right…" Lux sighs out in happiness.

"You're the one that told me that gear adjusts to fit an avatar." I quip, crossing my arms and awkwardly putting on my new gear. "These feel weird." I say, tugging at my earlobes.

"Stop pulling on them, _glupyy_ , or you'll hurt yourself." Rain said, swatting my hand while placing a hand on the grip of her clearly new sword. She never had one with a black and red pattern, so…

"This is so cool…" Klein whispered from somewhere. I found him sat in a corner staring at his feet, which were clad in geta of all things.

"Why orange?" Kirito cries out in defeat while looking at his new drop, which is black coat very similar to Lux's coat but his shoulders are orange while Lux's is a dull brown.

"Even you need some color too, Kirito." Lux tells him, trying to hold back her laughter.

"What the hell is this!?" An unfortunately voice shouted, storming up to Lux and grabbing her by the collar of her coat. "You're group just swooped on in there to take the last attack bonus for yourselves!"

"Actually...we kinda saved your asses, but sure, whatever you say." Lux says nonchalantly.

"I would suggest taking your hands off of her." The rumbling voice of Tiffany says, putting a hand on Kibaou's left shoulder. "It doesn't reflect kindly on the rest of us when you're threatening someone who saved our skins back there."

"You tell 'em, home skillet!" Asuna calls out, white flower hairpiece near her left temple.

"And I really don't like you yelling at my friend." I add, placing my left hand on his right shoulder, following Tiff's lead. "So, you're gonna let go, or things are going to get messy." I finish, placing my axe's blade near his neck.

"Fine! Still doesn't change the fact that your group is a bunch of cheaters! How else would you know that the weapon was different!?"

"Because we have eyes?" Lux asks rhetorically.

"Or maybe you're all filthy beta testers!" He flings back accusingly.

"Wow, he won a prize...What did he get? I hope it's an actual brain." Lux cheers in monotone. Kirito went to say something, but then Diavel started laughing.

"Beta testers? Them!? Don't make me laugh. Those idiots couldn't tell the ass end of a [Frenzy Boar]." Diavel says.

"These idiots are a-" Lux started to make a retort, but Kirito stopped her.

"He's doing something important." He states while narrowing his eyes.

"I orchestrated all of this because I felt bad for them. With their friend gone and replaced by some blonde bimbo with an axe, what else could I do? Being a Beta tester just made it even easier." Okay, dem's fightin' words. Bimbo I am not, dickhead!

"Down girl. Let him be." Lux says reluctantly.

"Hey Rain? What's the Russian word for asshole?"

" _Mudak_."

"Doesn't mean he isn't being a _mudak_."

"Shush, the little people are arguing." Lux says, pointing to Diavel and Kibaou, who were arguing like mad. Cloyster looked ready to rip out Nidoqueen's throat.

"How long are they gonna be like this for?" Klein asks, falling in behind me.

"Knowing aggressive people like this? Long enough for us to get Silica and begin exploring the second floor." Rain says in a slightly joking tone.

"I'm not against that idea." Kirito and Lux both say.

"I love it when a plan comes together." I and, surprisingly, Tiff say, though he says it slightly behind me.

"What? It's a good reference." Tiff defends when I give the large man a questioning look. "Good show too."

"You're a Beater!" The cactus screams, catching my attention.

"Um...wat?" Lux says in confusion before some random from the crowd speaks up.

"A filthy beta tester and a cheater! You Beater!"

"Look likes it's time for us to blow this joint." Klein says, slowly moving behind the angry mob.

"That...is one of Klein's better ideas. See you later, Tiffany." I say quietly, waving at who must be the token black guy, unless there are more people somewhere.

"Yeah, see ya, T-Dawg."

"God dammit Asuna…" I mutter as we leave.

"Sooo, wanna bet on if Diavel makes it out of there alive?" Lux and Klein ask in unison, surprising each other.

"There's a good chance. Player killing didn't start in the beta until about the third floor." Kirito states.

"I'd give it more than that in this version...but only three huh?" Lux asks him. "Hmmm...Hey Sam? What do you think?"

"I think he'll get what's coming to him for calling me a bimbo…" I growl, before a pair of fingers forced my face into a smile.

"Don't be like that. It'll happen. Just wait." Asuna says in a really creepy tone.

"You do realize he was acting, right?" Kirito asks me and Asuna with a look of astonishment.

"Doesn't mean his words don't hurt…" I mumble, putting an arm across my chest.

"Let's just get Silica and go to the next floor. I wanna know if it's still the same as the beta."

"Um...about that...Could we, maybe, split up for a bit?" I ask the group. "Once we get to the next floor, that is."

"Are you mad?" Lux asks me unamused. "Have you been taking drugs? I told you about stranger danger, right?"

"I didn't say I want to go alone, Lux. Just...I want a chance to just be able to learn on my own, without YOU holding my hand through all this. We never know if one of us could…" I couldn't bring myself to finish the grim sentence.

"Fine, whatever, I don't care…" Lux says miffed and storms off.

"I'm...just gonna get back to my friends before this gets even weirder…" Klein says, awkwardly shuffling away.

"Kirito, please go find Lux. She's more likely to calm down with you around than anyone else." Rain asks. He nods, and wordlessly goes off in the same direction. "Who do you plan to go with? Silica would likely stick with the others, and frankly I will too. It's too soon for us to be trying something, especially after the clear changes that have been made."

"I know it's dumb, but this is something I just have to do. I can't keep relying on her to do everything for me, and with how she is, I'm going to have to throw it in her face for her to notice it."

"I'll go." Asuna says. "It sounds to me like you've thought this through, and I get a chance to go to town with you without the others holding me back." The smile she wore grew more malicious as her explanation continued into laughter.

"...Wat?"

"You don't know half of the things she tried to buy for you." Rain states. "Some wouldn't even be good for how you play, but she would say 'but she'd look so good in it!'"

"And she would! Come on, even you can admit that she could show some more cleavage."

"Now I know you're just teasing. The girls back in the States would sometimes say the same thing in the locker rooms."

"Oho? Care to tell me more?" The Rat asks, appearing yet again out of nowhere.

"Nope." I say immediately.

"Aww, not even if I give ya a piece of info for free? Any info?"

"Then it's not for free. That's an exchange called bartering. We're not in old Scotland, and I don't see any sheep, so..."

"Give me five minutes." Argo says with a strange seriousness.

"*sigh*...Fine...I've always been teased for these things, so the girls would tease me for wearing really modest clothes. Loose t-shirts and stuff."

"Boo! Not what I was expecting, still though, a promise is a promise. Whatcha wanna know? No strings attached."

"What should we be expecting on the next floor, monster and field boss wise?"

"Hmmm, I suggest looking up while on that floor." She says with a little giggle while sending over a list of monster names, drops and etc.

"Not the bees!" I shouted, seeing one of the mobs' names.

"So...wanna know anything else? I'm feeling generous, that and I expected ya to ask for that info so I had it ready."

"The Boss?"

"Included in that list."

"...Right...Um...Tell me the story about your whiskers."

"Oh boy...Ya really don't hold back. Umm... Basically, back in the beta I stumbled upon a quest to get the martial arts extra skill, but once I accepted it the quest giver drew whiskers on my face and they wouldn't disappear until I beat the quest...Which I never did in the beta. They grew on me and so I made it a status symbol for me even in the full game." She explains.

"Huh...Didn't think something so cute would come from something so lame..." I mutter, poking her cheek.

"Ya can stop anytime, ya know?" She half tells half asks me with a frown on her face.

"But you're so much like a cat...I can't help it…"

"I'm The Rat, not The Cat…" She complains, pushing me away lightly.

"I believe she was referring to you like a Cheshire Cat, which you do act like."

"Damn! Rain hit you with that literary knowledge!" Asuna comments like a screamlord.

"I'm done with you people…" Argo says starting to try and get away, but I hugged her from behind.

"I thought we were friends, Argo. Friends can take a teasing, right?" She went limp at that and resigned herself to her fate. "See? Isn't that better, AND more comfy?"

"That's what almost killed me last night."

"Shush, Asuna." I say. "It's not like she's getting a face full like you...and she's more huggable."

"How much for you to let go?" Argo asks, sounding desperate.

"How much do you have?"

"Hundred cor." She answers.

"That's bull and we both know it."

"Please let her go." Rain pleads. "It wouldn't be good to get on our trusted informant's bad side."

"Fine, though I wasn't lying earlier. Asuna's kinda bony. And she kicks."

"That...that's not true…"

"You woke me up three times last night with kicks to the shin, and your butt poking my stomach."

"Interesting." Argo says as she slips out of my grasp and then disappears.

"Who was that, anyway?" Asuna asks.

"A friend. A friend who has info on you that she won't ever forget, and I'm sorry about that."

"It's...okay?"

"Argo will sell most information, if offered the right price." Rain clarifies.

"Huh. Well, no one really knows me, so it should be fine...Right?"

"It's Argo. She'll find SOMEONE interested enough to get money from." Rain says, patting her on the shoulder. Not long after she said that, Asuna got a message. Since she never changed the transparency settings, I could see it was from Argo, and it was three lines worth of her catlike laughter.

"Um…"

"She does that. We don't know how, but she does." I say, shaking my head. We went back to the inn, and the room Rain shared with Silica was filled with the tears of said roommate. Seriously, there was a pretty good sized puddle.

"Y-You're leaving?" Silica asks wobbly, sitting on her bed.

"I...wanted to tell you myself, and it's not a permanent thing. Just a little bit of time away from Lux, really. I'll be back before the second floor boss, I promise."

"T-Then let me come with you!"

"Sure thing!" Asuna says before I could reply. "Sammy wants to train anyway, so nothing would be that different."

"We share a bed, Asuna, and I'm always armed. I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk for me."

"So...Does that mean I can't come?"

"No, just that I might have to change the plan. We gained a level or two after the boss fight, and if knowledge of difficulty scalings is to be believed, it's just gonna get harder from here. So, we do some stuff down here, maybe grind a bit in the lower levels of the dungeon, then we go to floor two and then find a town first and foremost. We can figure out other things from there."

"It won't be that difficult...Just saying. Stay alive." Lux says curtly

"We'll be fine. The three of us got this." I say, confidently

"Sure you do." Lux says with a smug grin as she walks away.

"Um...what was that about?" Silica asks, confusion on her face.

"Ak-Er...Lux has always had a weird way of showing that she cares." I explain. "She was angry earlier because she was worried about me, which is another reason why I want to do this. So she doesn't HAVE to worry about me. She knows I won't be alone, so it won't be quite the impact that I want, but it's something. Rain, can you go with her? As we've all seen, she can get...crazy...and Kirito doesn't help. They need a voice of reason, and I don't think there's anyone better to cover my best friend's back."

"I see...I won't let you down!" Rain says, brimming with confidence. Her optimism was infectious as I wrapped her in a quick hug.

"You're the best, Rain."

"Hehe...I try."

"I'm ready whenever you are." Asuna says curtly. "We should head out before dark, though."

"I don't want it to go dark before we find the first town." Silica adds.

"Okay. Stay safe, Rain, and please keep Lux from doing something dumb."

"I'll try, but I'll probably be outvoted every time." She laughs melodically. "Have fun, you three."

"As much as we can in SAO." Silica mutters, surprisingly dark for her. "Do you think the portal to the second floor is open yet?" She asks after the two of us finished explaining what happened after the boss fight and we left the inn.

"Diavel's probably on his way to the first town, at the very least. The crowd wasn't exactly a fan of him when we left, so...if not, he's hella dead." Asuna answers.

"I wanted to go the long way anyway. Call it...bonding time. That, and I wanted to tell you what I was gonna say before Lux stormed off in the market earlier once we got somewhere private."

"I heard mention of a secret." I could hear Argo say, though her voice sounded very far away.

"Quick, before she finds us." I whisper-yell, grabbing their hands and having us run up to the doors from the boss room.

"Please stop pulling us!" Silica cries as I barge through the large double doors. The second floor was similar to the last, except instead of open grassy plains, we had rocky plateaus.

"S-Sorry. This is one thing I really don't want available to the public."

"Nyehehe...Ya can never escape me. Not as a tank build." God dammit…

"What do I have to do for you to leave me alone about this?" I ask desperately.

"You'll never have enough money."

"It'd probably just be easier to tell her too." Silica suggests.

"...*sigh*...fine, but you can't tell anyone. I'm trusting you on this." I say, glaring at the informant.

"Depends on what it is."

"I, well...I like girls." I say and I feel my face burning.

"Well yeah! We like girls too! Just look at us together."

"Stay this innocent forever." Asuna whispers, holding Silica close to her.

"She means she likes girls the same way ya Dad likes ya Mom." Argo explains.

"That means...with Rain…"

"Silica, let's just say I was glad that for that month I was stuck in an Avatar based on my twin's scan." Steam seems to come from Silica's head as it appears that she's trying to wrap her head around this newly discovered bit of information. "S-Silica?" I ask, worried about the girl undergoing a nuclear meltdown.

"I think you broke her." Asuna observes, poking Silica's cheek.

"She's a big girl, give her a moment." Argo states. "And just to let ya know, Big Sis Argo won't say anything...directly."

"D-Directly?" I ask hesitantly.

"Just gonna drop to any guys that come asking that there's no way you'd be interested, that's all."

"We should tell Rain!" Silica blurts out after rebooting.

"Nyhehe! What a wonderful idea, Silica!" Argo jokes with her cat grin evident as always. Well, I think she's joking. Can never be sure with her. Turns out Silica doesn't either as she opens up her menu. "Don't...Don't actually do it. I was teasing her."

"O-Oh…"

"And why didn't you stop her?" I ask the brunette standing behind Silica

"Was curious." Asuna replies with a smirk.

"W-Where did they go!?"

"Well lookie there." Argo muses. "Just the girl we were talking about." She adds lowly.

"Rain? What are you doing here?" Asuna asks.

"I went to find Lux and Kirito, but they weren't anywhere in Tolbana. I ran here to see if they were already up here, and I found you." Silica went to say something, but Argo put her hand over the small girl's mouth and put a finger over her lips.

"I bet they're in town. You can tag along with us until we get there. There's a low chance they're gonna wander anywhere else today." I say, looking up at the sun that was already setting.

"You think the setting sun would stop game nuts like them?" Argo asks with a chuckle.

"I think it would keep them from going too far from town." I reply.

"You really...Here's a free bit of info. The mobs get stronger at night, but they give more experience."

"I know THAT. I'm just saying that they probably won't be going to a different town tonight."

"Let's check the nearby town then?" Silica asks after freeing herself from Argo's grasp.

"We were heading there anyway. Now we're looking for the people we split from to avoid for a while." Asuna states dryly.

"Or I could just tell you where they are…" Argo deadpans.

"And pay you for it? We're good."

"Um...Sam? Can't you see where friends are in the menu?" Rain asks.

"That's a thing?"

"I'd say you're hopeless, but that's actually not a well known thing." Argo comments. "Let's see...they're...coming this way? Huh."

"I can't believe you forgot to stock up on [Tailoring] materials when we were back in Tolbana." Kirito says as the two get closer to us.

"Sorry that I was in a bit of a rush. Sam was gonna send someone to tail us at any...moment...Oh, hey guys,"

"Hi Lux!" Silica says a little too excitedly. "Hi Kirito."

"Hm...She told you, didn't she." Lux states, staring at the child among us, who just nodded her head rapidly.

"Um...What are you talking about?" Rain asks, confused.

" _Сэм любит девушек_."

"Oh...Oh my…" Rain says, face red.

"Hehe...have fun with that." I could hear Lux say under her breath, which is why I leveled a glare at her. "What?" She asks with fake innocence.

"Nothing. Well, here they are, Rain, though it seems like they were going out of their way to avoid you." I grumble.

"We weren't avoiding her…" Kirito says with a sigh as Lux refuses to say anything.

"It sounded like you were, though." Oh my god, Rain sounds so heartbroken.

"You could of just sent us a message. We weren't trying to avoid you, we must've just gotten separated." Lux says.

"Oh, okay! Where are we going, then?" That turned around quick.

"Back to Tolbana. Lux forgot to get the mats she needed to grind a skill." Kirito answers. Lux briefly looks me in the eye for a moment before turning tail and starts walking into town. "Or not. Town works too." He left to follow after her. "Are you coming, Rain?" The girl in question paused for a second to go with him.

"See you all later!" She calls out, waving back as she walked.

"...That was a thing." Asuna deadpans.

"At least it isn't boring?" Silica asks more than says.

"Well, I've had my fun. See ya." Argo says, leaving to...somewhere.

"So what now?" Asuna asks looking at me.

"Well, we SHOULD head to town, so we at least know where it is, though we can probably take a small detour if we want to get a feel for what we're going to be up against...and the source of info for one of the things I wanted to do already left. Ah well. Finding the Field Bosses is one of the more fun parts. There's a reason I like those Tomb Raider games."

"You really aren't playing the right game." Silica laughs.

"Blame Lux. Me getting this thing was largely due to her. In her words 'You can finally be yourself without worry'. She's been trying to get me to do what I did with you guys earlier for...a year now? Ever since I admitted to her, on accident, that if she asked me out I wouldn't say no."

"You said that?" Asuna asks, befuddled.

"There's a long series of events leading up to that, and it was before I figured out what kind of girls I like."

"Girls like Rain?"

"Shut up, Silica." I mutter, turning away and towards the ground so they can't see the warmth I feel. "You aren't even old enough to think about dating."

"Are you sure about that? I've seen her looking at Klein."

"Isn't Klein in his twenties?" I ask Asuna while looking at Silica.

"Can we please go now?"

"Oh, so it isn't okay when it's happening to you, is it?" I tease, ruffling her hair. "But yeah, let's go. Honestly, I just want to lay down in a bed after the shitshow today was." It took a few hours, but we made it to town before the sun completely set. I paid for the room, which wasn't that bad on my wallet, and we went up to check it out. "Whoa."

"It's so fancy." Silica states in the same amount of aw that I was in, looking at the room that, while still fairly simple, was several levels above what was in Tolbana.

"The bed is softer too. Why did you get a room with only two beds?" Asuna asks.

"...It was cheaper…" I answer.

"Why are you being so frugal? It's a game. We can just go grind more." Silica replies.

"It's the principle of the matter. Fake easily obtainable money or not, you shouldn't just go spending all willy-nilly." I say, defending my decision. "Um...Market first thing tomorrow?"

"Sure!" Silica cheers. Asuna didn't answer because she was sound asleep, still in her gear.

"You should stay with her. After this morning, I don't think she'd want me anywhere near her while sleeping." I say, laughing as I take off my gear and sat down on my bed.

"Sam?"

"Yes, Silica?"

"Your pajamas?"

"Right. I have those now." Remembering that I had clothing I normally wouldn't wear thrust upon me, I put on the pink nightgown that Silica had picked out, and then removed the under gear that the game wouldn't let you take off without something to cover yourself.

"I knew you'd look cute in pink."

"Silica, please."

"Hehehe...Good night, Sam."

"'Night, Silica." I closed my eyes and woke up to the sun in my face and the smell of muffins in my nose. "...Who found the muffin button…?"

"I woke up earlier and got muffins from the bakery. You and Asuna were sleeping like logs." Silica chuckles. "Lux swung by too. Well, Rain sent by Lux."

"What for?"

"She didn't feel overly confident with taking on a Field Boss with the three of them, but Rain made it seem like Lux was implying it was because she was there."

"...Logical as usual. Lux doesn't like unknowns, or having too many variables to track. We'll have to find Rain and make sure she understands."

"Okay? I think I got that. How are we waking her up?" She asks, pointing at Asuna, who was sprawled across her bed.

"Shake her?"

"Tried it."

"Tap her face?"

"That was my second move."

"Tap her in the face...with a muffin?"

"Why?"

"I don't know, but it shouldn't hurt to try." I grabbed one of the baked treats and pressed it to the corner of her mouth. I repeated the process until her mouth opened and bit a piece off. "Good morning." Asuna grumbles out a response before sitting up. "Ready to help me out shopping again?"

"Hehehehehe…" Asuna laughs sinisterly, which scares me greatly. That aside, we ate our meals and went to the various stalls for better equipment. My axe was still better than anything that was sold, but all my clothes were about the same as common to mid tier monster drops. My worries were unfounded when I was pointed towards a white short-sleeved cloth shirt with an iron breastplate over it, iron gauntlets, a knee length black skirt, and iron greaves over thigh high leather boots. Silica had gotten a leather armored green short sleeved shirt, black boots, and black tights to go under her field boss drop skirt. Asuna had kept the cloak she had, though the hood was still down, but her starting gear was replaced by a shoulderless red blouse, she had a white pleated skirt that ended just about the knees, white leggings and knee high red boots. "We look good."

"Mhm." Silica agrees, nodding her head once.

"Well, since we just beat the first floor boss, even if we wanted to, our other half wouldn't want to fight a field boss today, so...maybe find some easy quests? The monster list Argo left includes drops, so if we check out the NPC blacksmith for something good, we can pick up quests involving killing those monsters and kill two birds with one stone." I say, rolling a shoulder to get accustomed to the new outfit and the way it moved. "Also, I don't like how this chestplate makes them so obvious. I think the guys around here are staring."

"You're just imagining things." Asuna hand waves, heading towards the clearly labelled blacksmith's. The NPC had a rapier and a knife he could make, but no axes. From the drop descriptions that were in Argo's list, everything from this floor leans towards speed gear. Not that great for me, but the quests we could get that involved the monsters we needed had decent enough rewards to make it worthwhile for everyone. "Ready to kill some [Wind Wasps]?"

"Bees...great…" Silica and I both groan. The quest we had picked had us hunting twenty five of the things, which would be an absolute pain. And a pain it was. The mobs were too fast for me to even attempt to hit with my axe, and I ended up spending the time popping pots. Asuna and Silica had a field day, though. They Even had a little competition going to see who could kill the most. Silica won by a hair, just barely getting the last one in the midsection before Asuna could.

"Good job, Silica." Asuna says, giving the smaller girl a high five.

"I'm glad you two had a good time." I groan, flopping onto the ground. "I hurt. The kind of hurt that a health potion can't heal."

"It's okay, Sam. We finished the quest and got enough materials to make what we need." Silica reassures me. "We can leave whenever we want."

"Yeah, that sounds nice. We can go to that cafe I saw when we were in the market. I think I saw a sign for cake."

"Cake!"

"I did say the loser would do one thing for the winner when I made the bet..." Asuna says.

"Then buy us cake!"

"Silica, relax a little, okay?" I ask, setting a hand on the shaking girl's shoulder.

"Okay. Oh, and invite the other girls we know." Ah shit.

"Done and done." Asuna replies, closing a menu. "Lux and Rain will meet us there, and Argo said that she'll think about it."

"Which means she'll be there, just when we least expect her to be." I laugh dryly, shaking my head. We took our time, since we were still kinda "tired" from our fight, but we still made it in time to meet Lux and Rain at the door. "Hey."

" _Privyet_!" Rain cheers.

"Hey. Took ya long enough." Lux comments, standing behind Rain.

"We got here at the same time though." Silica whines.

"Details...So...who's paying for the cake?"

"Asuna. She lost a bet with Silica over who could kill the most bees in a quest we picked up." I answer, holding the door open for everyone.

"Ever the gentleman, Sam…" Lux half mocked with a half smile.

" _Spasibo_." Rain thanks, walking through as I ignored Lux's jab at my real world habits. Asuna and Silica also said their thanks as they went through, and we were seated at a round table for six.

"So is our resident rat gonna make an appearance?" Lux asks, leaning back into her chair and yawning.

"No idea, but there's high chances. What have you been up to so far today?" I ask, shifting a little in the slightly uncomfortable chair. Rain sighs while Lux just chuckles.

"Oh...We cleared about…every quest on the quest board..Well except for one, but that one required us to hunt some bees...but there were none." Lux explains as she's trying to balance her chair on two legs.

"We...may have had a hand in that." Asuna says, scratching her cheek with a single finger. "We went to do that quest, and then more showed up, then even more showed up…"

"And they all wanted to go after Sam, even though she hadn't hit a single one." Silica finishes, much to my shame.

"Nyhehe...Seems they love ya. That explains where they all disappeared to, though." Argo says out of nowhere.

"It's because I'm so sweet."

"I hate you even more now." Lux says blankly, facepalming. I turned a bit to see Rain holding in a giggle.

"If you hated me, you wouldn't have put up with me for all these years." Lux goes red at that and looks away shyly.

"...Idiot…"

"Says the one who couldn't figure out her bra before the girl that uses a binder."

"You swore an oath of secrecy on that!" Lux exclaims, lightly hitting me on the chest in the process.

"And you swore you'd never out me being gay, yet here we are." I chide, poking her cheek from across the table.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you two were dating." Argo says, smirk out in full force.

"I may be bi, but I won't date this tomboy…" Lux says coldly…

"That hurts. That honestly, truly hurts that you'd say that with that tone of voice." I say sincerely.

"What? Your more like my little sister more than anything else."

"...But I'm older than you…and you social just as good as I do on the outside."

"Are ya sure ya arent dating?" Argo asks again, grin even wider.

"Yes, we're sure. I have someone in mind though." I answer.

"Oh, I know ya do. Was just trying to see how ya would react."

"Sometimes I question why I call you a friend." Lux questions, but laughs all the while.

"Anyone else feeling awkward during all of this?" Asuna asks out of nowhere, and Rain and Silica answer by nodding their heads.

"Um...Your order…" The NPC says awkwardly, setting the cake in the center of the table.

"Hello, Luck boost." Lux says, eyeing the dessert.

"This cake provides a stat boost?" Rain asks, looking at Lux.

"That it does, aye. Cost a pretty penny for that info too." Argo chuckles.

"My reward comes with a bonus? Neat." Silica says. "But...what does it apply to?"

"Don't poke the hornet's nest, Silica…" Lux says, sighing. Argo's eyes light up at Silica's question.

"Three thousand Cor." She says with an almost practiced timing.

"Luck is used during the success calculations of player crafting, as well as monster drop rates." I answer, and Lux gives me a look. "What? Just because I don't play MMO's doesn't mean I haven't played games that use a luck stat before. It's actually a pretty common element to most RPGs." Lux just shoves the rest of her cake down her mouth and walks away, annoyed as Silica nods in understanding.

"Don't take my customers away now." Argo complains.

"I have to prove that I'm not completely clueless." I counter.

"You've always seemed competent enough since I met you." Rain states.

"That's because Lux has been holding our hands a bit about the stuff specific to SAO." Silica explains.

"Which is why she gets bent out of shape when you even mention going somewhere without her." Asuna adds.

"That...and she hates my sense of fashion with the burning passion of a thousand suns, but that's outside stuff."

"No it isn't." Everyone else at the table says in the same deadpanned tone. It remained quiet for some time before Rain stood up.

"I better catch up with her, before she does something she may regret, since we don't have much to do until we all attack the Field Boss." She says.

"Nyeheh...I wouldn't worry about that. I already messaged Kii-bou about it."

" _О слава богу._ " Rain sighs, crumpling back into her chair. "I'm beginning to regret doing what you asked of me. I can't keep doing this, if doing every quest in town in a day is what those two want to do."

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting them to do that when I brought it up." I chuckle awkwardly. "This is new behavior for her too. Hopefully it'll stop once she settles down."

"So...what now? We did the quest, ate my victory cake, and chatted for a bit." Silica asks.

"No more mobs please." Rain pleads.

"We can go hang in our rooms, maybe work on skills that don't require fighting?" I suggest. "Asuna and I both have [Tailoring] to do."

"And [Cooking]." Asuna points out.

"Yeah, there's that too, though we did just eat, and while we don't gain weight here, that's not a great habit to pick up." I argue, to which she shrugs.

"I picked up [Acrobatics] on accident during an escort mission that Lux wouldn't help with." Rain says. "Though that's not something I can really do inside."

"And I...don't really have that many skills…" Silica states. "[Musical Instrument] crossed my mind, but I'm not sure what I'd want to do." Rain's eyes lit up when she said this.

"I can help. I know a bit about music."

"A bit? I've heard you sing in the bath." Silica laughs as Rain goes red. "Are you sure you're not a professional."

"I'm sure, Silica. Still, I'll help you find something you like, if you want."

"Ya can't get instruments until floor nine." Argo says.

"Aw…"

" _Взбодриться_. You have the time to build up the Cor for one now."

"Sooo...to our rooms?" Asuna asks, leaning in her chair a bit towards the door. We nod, except for Argo, who probably lost interest when we weren't planning on doing anything exciting. From there, we ended up just hanging out, not doing anything that we had talked about, for the rest of the day.


	7. Chapter 6

**Well, here's another one. Hopefully this one won't take as long to finish as the last.** Hey, it's not my fault I got addicted to a game and kept making you play it...again and again and again. **Yeah, that did eat into what little free time I did have to write. That, and there were many times where you weren't in the mood, but that's not important atm.** Writing is, so let's get on with it. **Yup.** Let's just get writing…

Time seemed to go by quicker when I wasn't being dragged along by Lux. It was slower than usual, but we steadily gained levels in all areas. Rain comes by often to fill us in on what the three of them are up to. More often than not it ends up with Rain pulling Lux away from a fight kicking and screaming. That's usually pretty entertaining, until she catches us laughing. She chased the three of us all around the fourth floor that one time, all the way up to the Boss door. That cheered her up a bit, but the only thing that truly spared us her wrath was finding out that we were the first ones there, and Lux took all the Cor for the map data from Argo...Which she definitely didn't rip her off for. Nope. Not at all.

Asuna, Silica and I only participated in one additional Floor Boss since Floor One. It was called [Bob the Boar King], and was the guardian blocking us from progressing to the eighth floor. That was a weird one, to be sure. The thing was only the size of a watermelon. I can still hear the cactus head's surprised cry as it barrelled into his chest, sending him flying, bringing a smile to most faces.

"Don't sit there laughing! Kill it!" He shouts, getting up slowly.

"Sorry, but seeing you get your arse handed to you is...way too funny." Lux laughs out as she kicks Bob towards Asuna, who lobs it across the boss arena with a mighty wallop.

"Anyone have a hoop? We can play basketball." I suggest.

"Bad. Always expect the worst from the small ones. Don't jest like that." Lux half snaps while readying her weapon proper.

"Fine, fine. Be that way." I got into a stance, ready to use any of my tanking skills once it got into my range. "Ready whenever you guys are."

"Asuna, Rain, when Sam draws aggro you attack from the sides. Silica you look for weak points and strike there. As for the rest of you buffoons...I'll give you orders when you stop laughing." Lux barks out.

"Here, piggy piggy...Let me make you into bacon." I taunt, getting its attention. Bob, being a very spirited boar, charges head first into my axe. I parry the attack with [Cleave], stopping it and knocking it back a few feet. "Aw...Is that all you've got?" Pissing it off more, Bob grunts, readying another charge but gets interrupted by Rain bringing her sword down into him before following up with a [Reverse Vertical Arc]. From the other side, Silica darts in and slashes at the boar's knee with [Venom Bite], one of the only skills in the game so far to do additional damage besides the actual hit.

"Look out below!" Lux cries out, jumping onto the poor things back and raises her right claw up before shouting her attacks name. "Armour Piercer!" She cries out, stabbing it's neck.

"Oh no...It's back. I thought she outgrew this a year ago…" I groan, putting a hand on my face.

"Outgrew what?" Asuna asks, tilting her head in confusion.

"The Chuun…" I mutter as if it were a blasphemous word.

"You're friends with a chuun?" Diavel asks, falling in place besides me.

"Yup. Some days I really do wonder. ANYWAY...Boss." I say, moving forward to set up another opening.

"You lot, make yourself useful!" Lux shouts the the spectators whilst yanking her claw out of its neck. "Also, welcome to the fight Diavel. You'd make a great co-tank for Sam. Can you do that?" She asks him but not giving him a chance to reply before darting away for some reason.

"She always like this?"

"She is, yes." Rain says, sounding dead inside. "Kirito, please stop being a floor tank and help us." She asks, regaining some life in her voice.

"Who needs that useless guy! Everyone let's gang up on the boss 'til it croaks!" Kibou roars as the rest of the raid group finally join the fray.

"...Do you guys just want to finish this up, or do we let the idiots to do their thing?" I ask, lifting my axe with one hand.

"Monkeys and typewriters…" Kirito sighs, strolling up to our group.

"So...don't help them?" Diavel asks, putting his sword away with an unsure look on his face.

"Is that Silica in the pile or am I seeing things?" Rain asks, worry in her voice.

"And is she kicking all the ass?" I add, staring at the flurry of blows I can get glimpses of.

"So from now on Silica isn't left out. Agreed?" Klein asks the group, surprising everyone for a moment. That surprise was replaced by a different one shortly after, as Silica calmly walked back to us with her last attack bonus; a knife almost the size of Bob. The blade was very simplistic, seemingly made out of steel, though the guard is adorned with Bob's tusks decorating both sides.

"Whatcha got there, Silica?" Lux asks, appearing behind her with an annoyed expression.

"The last attack bonus!" She answers cheerfully.

"Well done, though...Did you have to join in with those...peasants. You should know better than that young miss."

"They made me all the openings I needed though…" Silica pouts.

"Well if they helped you that much, I suppose no one can take that away from them. Now then, time to open the next floor. Care to do the honors, Silica?"

"Nope! All mine!" Diavel shouted, already at the door.

"Get the Beater!" The...riff-raff call out, chasing after him.

"Soooo...that was a thing." Klein comments, his friends/guild mates joining him.

"We didn't really get to do much did we?" Asuna comments whilst the shouts from the riff-raff start to fade.

"I'm oddly fine with that." Rain comments, to which I nod in agreement.

"No pots used, not much of the day spent trying to survive a ridiculous fight...I'm fine with that." I elaborate.

"I used one." Lux says. "Though that's because I used it on the damn cactus...So many regrets…" We continue our chatter as we make our way up the stairs and onto the next floor. The floor was mostly plains with a few mountains here and there, there was one noticeable feature which made most of our party sigh whilst the rest laugh. The floor is full of boars. I'm pretty sure I saw a lake made of boars, but I'm also sure that's just my tiredness catching up to me, seeing as how I don't sleep the greatest before a boss fight of any kind.

"Fuck my life." Klein, Kirito and Lux all say in annoyance.

" _Я не вижу, что не так._ " Rain comments.

"You play games as long as we have Rain, and that would get on your nerves too…" Lux says confusing some of the group unsure of what rain said.

"Yay! More easy targets!" Silica cheers out with a scary amount of bloodlust dripping from her words.

"Silica, no." Kirito says trying to calm the girl down.

"Silica yes!" The girl cheers, bolting towards the nearest one.

"You're all nutjobs." One of Kleins guildmates says, shaking his head.

"What ever gave it away?" Kirito asks.

"Do not lump US." I say, waving a hand towards Rain, Asuna and I. " With THEM." I finish, pointing at Lux, Kirito, Silica and Klein. "That's rude of you for generalizing."

"You're friends with us, you're insane by association!" Kirito counters.

"Alright guys, lets move out." Klein says toward his lot. "Lets meet up later and chat, alright?" He asks rhetorically as him and his guild, Furinkazan, walk away.

"By the way, Sam? As much as I hate to admit it, you've grown a bit...So I guess I was wrong for getting angry." Lux says with a beet red face and refuses to look at me, instead choosing to watch Klein and co. walk into town.

"It's alright. I honestly could've also dropped that on you a bit better than I did." I say, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing her in a side hug, though I had to squat a little to do so. "Thanks though. That means a lot from you."

"Don't make me hurt you peasant." She responds with instantly.

"I can and will suplex you, Lux. I've shown you that video."

"You'd need enough strength first." She says nonchalantly as she slips out of my grasp and flips away.

"She says that like I'm not a strength build or anything." I huff. "Anyway...who wants to go get Silica with me, because THAT is a recipe for disaster if I've ever seen one." I point at a large group of boars with a mop of brown hair in the middle.

"Why not let the girl have her fun?" Lux asks, still readying her weapon all the while. "Still, be on standby…"

"Know what? I'm just gonna go in there, and do my job." I counter, barreling forward.

"Alright guys, form up…" Lux says tiredly.

" _Когда сегодня кончится?_ " Rain asks, yawning.

"It's still morning, Rain…" Lux answers...sorta. As they were chatting I leap in and shove a good number of them out of the way as I stop dead in front of her.

"Hey! No stealing my kills!"

"Enough of that!" I shout, putting on my best Mom Voice™.

"Enough of what? I'm liking this new Silica." Lux says as she stabs a boar to death, breaking one of her claws in the process. "Dammit...That was a good claw."

"I think you're the only one who likes the new Silica." Kirito says, following up on what I said.

"Thank you, Occasional Voice of Reason." He has his moments, so I dubbed him that for when Kirito's talking sense.

"I take offence to that…"

"It IS true though." Rain says, annoying the boy.

"Yup." Asuna agrees, stabbing one through the head and out the back. "Oh look, a kebab."

"Now I'm hungry!" Lux complains, finishing off the last of the boars. "You're paying for lunch today Asuna because of that."

"This wouldn't have been an issue if you had eaten the breakfast we made." I comment.

"What you made couldn't be called 'food' Sam…" I saw everyone who partook of my meal look at here like she had grown a second head.

"Entitled much Lux?" Asuna asks, Lux giving a "are you serious" look toward the girl.

"Enough. Let's just go into town." I say whilst dragging a humming Silica behind me. When we got into town, we went to the market to improve our gear. I had developed a habit of getting the info about what various shops sold from Argo before we moved up so I knew if we had enough for anything that would be beneficial to us, and from what I saw nothing on this floor would be better than what we had without some serious advancement, and we could get what we had on now to that point easily enough. Speaking of gear, most of ours changed when we got to Floor 6. Lux had gone back to using a single-handed sword that was as basic in design as you could get even though it was steel, saying that the fighting style for the claws she had been using was growing uncomfortable. Otherwise, she had somehow found the only pair of proper pants that girls could equip that were a flat black color, a plain grey shirt that was covered by an almost white steel chestplate, black boots, grey silk gloves, and a black shoulder on her left shoulders. Jokes of her looking like a modern day Chrom happened and went over very poorly. Kirito had managed to find what was just a nicer version of what he normally wore. His grey shirt was made of silk, his pants and boots looked sturdier, and he had a stronger coat than the one he got from Illfang a month ago. Lastly, he had the same longsword as Lux, since Lux, Kirito and Rain found a quest where all three of them could get the reward, kind of like the [Anneal Blade] quest. Rain had a leather breastplate over a long-sleeved red shirt with pauldrons, a white ruffled skirt that reached just above her knees, and leather boots that came up to the other side of her knees. Silica had a red jacket that she kept open over a black blouse and had a black pleated skirt that covered her knees. On her feet where a pair of black leather shoes, and her weapon of choice was a slightly curved ornate dagger that looked like it belonged on display in someone's house more than it did on the battlefield. I had gotten, with a little assistance from Asuna and Rain (Silica is no longer trusted to help with my fashion sense after the incident I'd rather not remember), a dark green dress that reached my mid thigh that had a silver breastplate and pauldrons covering my chest and shoulders, beige colored tights, brown boar hide bracers with metal plating, armored small heels, and a double sided axe where even the blades are made of durable wood. I had modified my scarf again so that it was stronger and it's color matched the rest of my gear. Asuna had a red plaid dress with white sleeves that reached her wrists and frills where the sleeves meet the rest of the dress. On her feet she had on white heeled boots, and over her dress she wore a grey breastplate. As we walked through town, Lux stopped and her brows furrowed a little.

"What's wrong?" Rain asks.

"I got a message from Argo." Lux says. "I'm going to ask her to meet us at the restaurant so we can find out what she wants." And we did just that, sitting down and ordering some drinks. Not long after they arrived, Argo walked in, towing Klein along next to her. He had gotten an upgrade too since the last time we saw him. For example, he now toted a katana at his hip, and tried to go as samurai as he could with his armor for this stage of the game, leaving only his red undershirt from the beginning as the last thing that needed replacing. "Hey Argo."

"Nyeheh...ya brought the whole gang, eh? Makes my life easier."

"Can you let me go now? I think my ear is gonna fall off." Klein pleads, grabbing at her arm.

"If it does, it'll come back after a few hours. Same with most limbs, actually." Kirito says with a smirk.

"I thought we were friends!" He cries, crocodile tears in his eyes.

"Samurai. Quiet." Lux orders, sighing.

"Why are you so rude today?" Rain asks, staring at her with furrowed brows.

"Sorry, uh...Klein. Quiet down, please I wanna hear what Argo has to say." Lux says, sighing once more and looks at Argo.

"Well, I got some good news. Found out about a Questline that no one else seems to be able to start, but I've found a lead. From what I've dug up, it's called [Masters of the Old Ways]. There's also a rumor about an extra skill tied to the elf war campaign that starts back on the third floor, but I haven't had much time to dig into it. I don't even know what extra skill it is."

"That must bug you." Silica states.

"Why come to us in the first place? Wouldn't someone else work better?" Lux asks before being shut up by Kirito.

"How can we help?" Kirito asks with his hand still over Lux's mouth.

"Well, if one of ya could come help me, that'd be gr-" Argo never got to finish because Lux was firmly attached to her chest. "...Looks like I've got a volunteer. Anyway, I figured that since the three of ya there probably haven't done the elf quests yet, you'd be the only ones left who could possibly find it."

"...I don't know how to feel about that…" I mutter, sad in the fact that we missed something. Again.

"I told you we should've turned right at that tree." Asuna states.

"Uh…How would you even know that was…?" Lux says before being dragged out by Argo.

"Have fun ya hear!? Time to hunt down a quest." Argo cheers as she runs out.

"Sooo...You like elves?" Klein asks awkwardly.

"You mean like Legolas?" Silica asks innocently.

"...Yeah, like Legolas…" He deadpans. "So, my crew already did all that, so I'm not gonna spoil things for you. Basically, there are two different races of elves: the forest elves and the dark elves, and they're at war with each other. The start of the quest has us picking which side we want to fight with."

"Dark elves." I say as soon as he finishes.

"You haven't ev-"

"Dark. Elves. Klein."

"...Sam, why are you so insistent on the dark elves already?" Rain asks, confusion all over her face.

"In most literature and stuff, dark elves are almost always the bad guys. I want the chance to be at their side just to see if Kayaba sticks to the norm or puts them in a different light. Oh, and forest or light elves are just overrated." I answer honestly.

"For a minute there, you had something going. Then you ruined it." Asuna states.

"We should get going. Since the floor is open now, the teleport gate is going to get flooded soon." Kirito says, standing up after finishing his drink.

"Guy's got a point. I've lost count of how many times my buddies and I have gotten stuck in the plaza of the new area. That, and I can't say that I'm not a little excited to go at that elite mob with my katana this time around." Klein chuckles. "Speaking of them, though...Aren't we going to be overleveled for that quest?"

"Given that the point of us doing this quest is to see if we can find the conditions for the extra skill Argo was talking about, I don't think that matters." I suggest.

"We might also be able to unlock other hidden parts of the quest no one else could've." Rain cheers. With that said, we made our way back down to the third floor. Once we were back in the main town, we ended up spending several hours wandering through the dense forest in an attempt to get back to the entrance to the floor from floor two, but that didn't go well. Eventually Klein told us that we were in the right area for the quest to start, and it didn't take long for the sound of steel clashing filled the air. Moving the bushes aside quietly revealed two elven swordsmen, one a male forest elf with a sword and shield, and the other a female dark elf wearing black armor that allowed for mobility and a much thinner sword than her forest counterpart. "How do we choose which one to support?"

"When we go out, one of us points our weapon at the one-" I gave Kirito a look, cutting him off. "Er...At the forest elf. From there, he'll start attacking. Normally she'll use a suicide attack when her health drops to a certain amount, but…And she's leaving." I hear him say quietly as I got out of the bushes, the tips of my axe blade pointed at the shielded warrior.

"Hey. You know it's not very gentlemanly to pick on a girl all on her lonesome, right?" I ask sarcastically.

"He has taken a treasure important to my people. We must retrieve it." The dark elf, whose name came up as Kizmel, says.

"Then it's a good thing I brought some friends." I say, turning back to her. The others swiftly joined me, weapons drawn as well.

"Leave it to humans to choose incorrectly. Very well. You shall share in her fate." The knight states, raising his sword with both hands. "Die." He says simply before charging. I blocked the overhead swing with the shaft of my axe, and even though we should be about the same level, it still felt like my bones rattled from the impact. Silica took advantage of the large weapon's swing time, landing several cuts across the exposed parts of his arms and face. From there, I forced his weapon up and away from me before jumping back, allowing our new ally and Klein to both slash him across the stomach. He moved towards the treeline, putting some space between our groups, but Rain and Kirito's speed allowed them to close in and unleash several swords skills in succession, severally dropping the NPC's health. He recovered quickly enough and was able to land a solid hit on Rain as she was stuck from her last sword skill. The look on his face, however, indicated that he wasn't expecting for her to stay standing. I took the initiative from there, using a skill called [Exploding Catapult], to leap at him while delivering a downward slash before following it up with an upwards one. The two hit skill seemed to be just enough to finish off the last bit of his health.

"Return the [Secret Key] to us." Kizmel demands, sword to the throat of the slowly disintegrating Forest Elf. He had the pouch made of leaves in his hand, but he sharply lifted it into the air.

"I will never concede true defeat to a Dark Elf!" He roars as something moving quickly snatched it away before he finally died.

"Those foolish knights...Their pride just makes them sooo...useless…" It may have just been me, but as the snide voice said that last word, I could hear a much deeper voice shout "Muda!". The source of the voice stepped out of the bushes with a hand raised just like the late knight, and the black blur that had snatched the item from his comrade, which was a very large bird, placed it gently in his hand.

"A Forest Elven Falconer…" Kirito mutters. "We need to be careful. The falcon is the same level as its master, and they can coordinate their attacks without actively communicating."

"We can take them. We beat one elite mob, we can take down another." Silica says confidently.

"That's the spirit, Silica, but we can't afford to get overconfident." Rain comments, readying her weapon, and even though she chided the youngest of us, she still had a smirk gracing her face.

"Man, I should come out questing with you guys more often. We've never pulled something like this off before." Klein laughs, looking scarily feral in that instant. The Falconer seemed to have caught on about how bad his odds were, and had the bird take the key and fly off with it.

"I got it!" I shout, giving chase to the large avian. Thankfully, even though I didn't put any points into my AGI stat, it still increased slightly when I leveled up, so I was able to catch up enough to slash at its talons. The item Kizmel was fighting for dropped to the ground as the bird made a hasty retreat.

"Did you get it?" Kirito asks as the others stop.

"Yeah, it's right there. You get the guy?"

"The Falconer retreated to his people's camp. We have recovered the key, so I shall escort you to mine." Kizmel says. "Please follow me." She led us through the forest, at one point even leaving the trail, and after around half an hour we were finally there. The structures that various elves could be seen coming in and out of were made animal skins. The dark elves of the camp were going about their business, living their digital lives like anyone else. "First we must return the [Secret Key] to the elder. From there, I shall show you where you will all be staying." She paused for a moment, before turning to face us. "I believe I have been rude and have not asked those that aided my people their names."

"My name is Kirito. My friends are Klein, Rain, Asuna, Silica and Sam." We each raised our hands as our names were said.

"I am Kizmel, a member of the Lyusula Royal Guard. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I think the pleasure is all ours." Klein purrs.

"Klein, no. Down boy. We've had this talk." I say, grabbing his ear.

"Okay, okay, just let go of my ear!"

"Are those two a couple? I did not think physical punishments were a part of your courtship rituals."

"No. This is...this is keeping a friend from doing something they may have come to regret otherwise." Rain deadpans. Silica proceeded to stand on the tips of her toes and whispered into the elf's ear.

"I see. Very well then." The meeting with the elder was short, and Kizmel brought us to a tent, which turned out to be hers due to there not being enough tents to house all of us. The food tent treated us to a nice meal, and after a group bath, which was a little uncomfortable due to us five girls having to bathe at the same time, we went to bed for the night. A wolf, who we later found out belonged to Kizmel's brother in law, joined us in the bath at one point, and Asuna acted like she'd never seen a dog before. It was pretty funny to watch her pet and wash it, actually. The next day we were roped into going into the woods around the camp killing spiders. Since they were giant spiders, I...may have panicked and went on a killing spree that felled some trents on accident in the process. After my breakdown, which is when I was informed of what had happened, we continued on and cleared out the nest enough to have evidence proving that soldiers are required for a full clearing of it. We also found a broach on the ground that happened to be a key item for a quest in the elf chain. We chugged through the next few quests, trying to get to the end and hoping to find the key to this hidden extra skill Argo said was here as quickly as possible. The results of that was our group ending up in the Lyusula war room as they plotted the invasion of the forest elf camp. Given our encounter before, three of us were assigned to deal with the falconer while the rest of troops dealt with the camp's forces. Of course, we had to fight our way to him, since it can never be that simple. The elves we fought weren't anything we haven't faced before, but their sheer numbers made it so we took some pretty nasty hits as we searched. "It is time for us to separate into our groups." Kizmel orders. For some reason, probably bad luck on my end when it comes to the NPCs' plan, I had ended up assigned to the team tasked with kiting off and killing the falcon. Klein and Rain were with me, so there's that.

"Sooo...Should we make this more interesting?" Klein suggests after we moved into our designated position.

"What are you suggesting?" Rain asks.

"Whoever gets the kill on the falcon gets to ask one thing of the other two."

"No/ _nyet_." Rain and I say at the same time.

"Can't say I didn't try." He shrugs. It didn't take long for the signal to come. We leapt out from behind the tent and I knocked the bird towards the ground and away from its master.

"Damn. I knew the rest of the humans would be here." The Falconer comments, a scowl forming on his face before he was forced to block a double frontal attack from Kirito and Kizmel, and while he blocked them, Silica and Asuna had come up to use their piercing weapons on his spine, causing him to cry out. His bird soon echoed him as Klein's curved steel slashed its way through avian flesh. Rain and I soon joined him in a case of government sanctioned animal abuse, cutting at it with some basic sword skills to keep the beast pinned in its position. As its health got down to the red, I used a skill called [Grand Destroyer] and delivered the hit to the nameless bird's neck and eliminated the remnants of its digital life.

" _Отлично сработано_." Rain says as a drop menu appears in front of me. Most of it was the normal for killing a mob, but there was one item that made me confused. "Get something good?"

"I...got a key item. As far as I'm aware, there isn't one for this quest. It's called [Prized Feathers]."

"Huh. We might have to talk to Argo about this one." Klein hums, folding his arms across his chest. "Never heard of someone getting a key item drop for a quest they don't have…"

"Or we can find out ourselves. Discovering the answer to this seems like a fun change of pace." Rain says cheerily.

"I like a good mystery. Let's do it." I agree.

"Let us return to the camp. We accomplished a raid long in the making, and those of Lyusula will wish to celebrate such a definitive victory. Come." And celebrate they did. Silica got socially drunk, like that one bit from an JRPG that I can't remember the name of, Kirito looked awkward as hell as some NPCs flirted with him, and Asuna and I were able to worm a new recipe out of the cooks. After finishing off the remaining quests for the campaign that we had access to, we returned to the front lines, all the while Rain and I searched for where the feathers I had picked up went to.

"Ugh…" I groan, sitting at a table with Rain in a restaurant on the fifteenth floor.

"Don't get too frustrated! We'll find it, I swear." Rain says.

"Oh, I have no intentions of giving up. I just find it hard to understand how an item from the second floor that you can only get by finding the secret third route of the Elf Campaign has no use thirteen floors later. Then there's whatever Asuna and Silica are scheming. I think Asuna's corrupting her."

"Just because they won't party with us on our searches doesn't mean they're planning anything. They probably found something that's important for them to do too."

"Yeah, I know." I open my menu and see that it's getting pretty late. "We should really get to our room. We've got an early start tomorrow." Rain nods with a smile, and we get ready for the coming day of trying to figure out where Kayaba put the lock for my mystery key.


End file.
